This book is a collection of one hundred square figure photographs by Aaron Knight, arranged as a series of visual themes. The square format is an exception in the field of photography. Yet for a century, these equal proportions have consistently occupied a niche from Hasselblad to Polaroid.
The sections of the book are:
Traditional Examples
The series begins with examples of traditional film photography, Polaroid and Hasselblad, that employ the square format, with one example of each. An additional Hasselblad film image appears in the studio section. Beginning the book with these images underscores the nature of the motif as a square composition, rather than the square as a subject. One could photograph any subject they please on square film, although the format will dictate the composition.
Repair Shop
In this auto repair shop are a number of visual fascinations in the textures, colors, and lighting characteristics. White walls produced inspiring light, while the center of the cavernous space allowed deep, moody shadows.
A plethora of objects and a range of textures tell stories spanning decades of accumulation and evolution. Small parts, tools, and general clutter construct a rich tapestry that is gritty but organized.
The subjects’ role is to explore the location and to exploit the visual possibilities. Imagining the duties of technicians who work there, the subjects drew inspiration to choose props and strike poses.
A giant drill is central to the motif of tools and parts in the fabrication area. A large adjustable chrome crescent wrench and welder’s goggles work towards the same effect.
A long-spouted container adds intrigue and purpose to the subject’s movements near a cabinet of carefully labeled drawers. Handwritten numbers, with ink bleeding into the yellowing paper, impart an almost rune-like appearance.
One table in particular exhibits the scars of age and has seen perhaps decades of service. A right-angled pose conforms to the square shape of a workbench. The bench and compartments form their own right angles, divided by broad lines.
A vice stands out amidst a variety of textures and tones. A rag draped over a shoulder helps integrate the figure with her surroundings.
A pneumatic hose snaking across a supine body connects visually to a mesh-skirted worktable. This composition offers a rich array of contrasting textures.
A subject sits on a shop cloth and leans into the items stacked on the bench.
Inside the Frame
A rigid frame provides a shape for the nude to fit inside. Although this structure strongly suggests contorting the entire figure inside the square, some more creative compositions defy this expectation.
When the square aligns with the page, it imparts a stable feeling. More intriguing, perhaps, are compositions with the square offset, balanced by limbs extended in the other direction.
In each image, the subject portrays an acute awareness of each body part with how her head and limbs conform to the geometry. Even when glimpsed from an angle, her striking features command immediate attention. Long, flowing hair adds an interesting facet to the images.
Bleached, cool highlights leave only a hint of the frame and draw the eye to the abstract shapes of the overall design. The addition of a black square block forms a shape within a shape to further explore the theme.
Unboxed
Photographs composed outdoors are distinct in their accommodation of square designs. An abundance of compositional elements is possible in every direction, and they extend to the horizon.
The infinite background of the natural world affords almost limitless possibilities for equal proportions of height and width. We see the figures here in nature, at its edge, or in the city. In the wilderness, the nude is at home.
In the city, the organic form is set against a backdrop of angular structures representing countless lives in every direction.
Before sunrise, a pair of figures poised on driftwood suggest a composition. The body in sand or water creates a design of texture and color. Whether composed in river water, a blooming field, or on a deserted road, the goal is to balance the figure with the landscape and immediate surroundings.
Shadows and Ghosts
When our communities retreat from our encroachment on nature, the resulting place becomes an opportunity for an unusual kind of figure photograph. These settings are apt analogies to humans: part civilized, part animal. The lines of architecture and aging patterns populate the compositions.
On an abandoned bridge at sunset, an arm and a foot each stretch towards opposite corners of the square page. Against a concrete barrier, an arm and a leg on the same side of the body reach upward to fill the frame. Time-lapse exposures at an abandoned Buddhist monastery yield an ethereal effect. The sequence narrates a journey across the rooftop. The lines of the railing are visible through the ghostly bodies.
A modern, angular table is unexpected but harmonizes with its surroundings in a disused industrial building. Through the window, a straight factory roofline is visible.
Outdoor Geometry
Positioned in and around massive geometric elements—an enormous pipe or a straight concrete wall—incorporates the body into their shapes. The manufactured lines, circles, and curves contrast and complement her natural contours. Circular structures provide a construct of equal height and width to fit snugly in these pages. Rectangular structures harmonize with the square in various ways, for example, by bisecting it.
The human figure can compress to fit into a square image or can be foreshortened through perspective to adapt to the proportions. Alternatively, some images balance the subject and background in such a way that a square crop is the most compelling arrangement.
The cement structure’s light, smooth surface reflects ample light, glowing in the afternoon sun. The deep shadows of the late hour emphasize the shapes of both the subject and her surroundings, adding drama.
Indoor Geometry
Interior settings offer geometric elements that suggest a square composition. The protagonist aligns with lines and blocks of color in a room. Alternatively, the body breaks across geometric shapes. In both cases, combined elements fill the frame. The edge of a couch, the corner of a room, and baseboards all create geometric planes that are arranged to contrast with and surround the figure.
Square glass bricks reflected in a mirror and the right angle of a decorative wall are obvious lines which divide the square image. The icy blue tones are complemented by the warm shadows of the lower region.
A subject perched on a sofa and the dark mass beneath her balance the visual composition. Her limbs work in concert to guide the eye diagonally from her head to her feet and hands. Sometimes light and shadow add the only geometric components. Her form is balanced with the shapes cast on the wall by the window light.
Red and Angular
A bright red sofa dominates the composition with its vibrant color and array of angled shapes. Dark accessories accent the subject’s limbs in matte, shiny, and translucent variations. The choice of embellishments and posture challenges traditional ideas of femininity and modesty while maintaining a sense of mystery.
The sofa is composed of rectangles, creating several planes in three dimensions. Each right angle adds to the density of lines around the subject. In some compositions, the lines are jumbled; in others, they provide a sense of order.
Artists have long used red as a strong color to demand attention. In these images, the form is either framed on all sides by the blazing color or she sits perched atop it. Her deliberate choice of limb placement and direct expression maintain a balance with the bright couch, commanding our attention back to her. Faint tones of blue light splashed on the wall provide a cool contrast to the hot crimson.
Painter’s Studio
The subject fills a painter’s small studio with an energetic display. The glass brick window provides visual balance to the figure. The floor is strewn with bits of paint, oil, turpentine, debris, and what seem to be bits of the floor itself. The floor tiles echo the square motif. The line where floor meets wall divides each composition.
With unbridled instinct, she commandeers a broom as a visual element. Expressive dance and airborne maneuvers are the mainstay of the kinetic energy in these compositions. This series demonstrates that the square frame does not have to be static or confining.
A performative pose with an electric guitar and amplifier reinterprets the familiar theme of pinup. The amplifier forms a dark rectangle, placed left of center. This dark rectangle aligns with the much larger rectangular area of glass blocks, balancing the visual offset of the window to add tension to the composition. The straight lines of the painter’s easel make for an unusual theatrical partner.
Photography Studio
The photographer’s studio offers uncluttered compositions. It’s natural to frame these finite scenes as neither vertical nor horizontal.
Balancing on, against, or behind a truck tire brings out muscle-tensing positions. Similarly kinetic, a robust metal chain obeys gravity and acts as a pendulum to add a subtle unpredictability. A pair of chains allows both symmetrical and asymmetrical arrangements.
Spheres pair dynamically with the figure. Motion creates sweeping curves with fabric. Mesh gloves, a Polaroid camera, and chairs round out the list of elements.
Rectangular blocks allow the figure to fit, inverted, in the square. On a velvet sofa, an atypical posture seems more interesting than sitting. With just the body, triangular or diamond shapes appear between arms and torso or between arms and the floor. Similarly, legs create angular, zig-zagging lines or sweeping arcs.
On the Square
A raised platform draped with dark fabric provides a plane for the subject with parts of her body both above and below it. This raised surface combined with stances that are neither standing nor sitting push the center of her weight toward the middle of the square.
A diagonal line bisects the frame in the first of four variations on this theme. A crouched position fills the square, but an outstretched leg and tilted head draw attention through the image. A raised arm changes the focus of the pose.
The nude is arranged with a small black square inside the square frame, drawing attention to the use of space. The foreground comprises the figure and the dark square, while the background comprises the negative space around the two elements.
In each image, the viewer’s journey begins by following the subject’s gaze. The interior lines of the body, arms, and legs all direct the eye through the compositions.
The Square Nudes book began with a Kickstarter was made possible by backers. The acknowledgements in the front of the book include the names of major backer as well as the models for the images. The second edition was published in 2019 and is currently available; the first edition was published in 2015 and is out of print.