Photo diptychs are two coordinated photos that tell a story or lead the viewer to make up a story. It is one way photographers can "zoom" in on an idea they are trying to get across to their audiance. Many times, you can turn a not-so-good photo into a great one, simply by artfully combining it with another. Two photos that fit better together than they did apart. A mini story in two frames, an association, siblings, parent & child, different perspectives on the same theme, anything that works well as a team of two. Get creative! Think in pairs. Here are a couple of photo diptychs (and a triptych) I've done recently:

Boo when she got her new glasses. Can you imagine a story that might go along with these photos?



For this Triptych (because it has 3 photos instead of two), I used the same photo/angle. But showing it slightly blurry, then focused, then over exposed. A story depicting how one might see with and without glasses. You know how the optomitrist says "Which is better - A or B, 1 or 2?" as they are flipping through the lenses when checking to determine your prescription needs? Well that was the idea in my head when building this triptych.


Here's one full of irony. It shows my hubby sporting his new boot cast.... and on the TV is the icon for the opening football game of the season. This photo wasn't planned. Just a lucky click of the camera. So I decided to make good on it.

No, he didn't break his foot playing football. But hey - diptychs are good for letting the viewer make up what ever story they want! The art just gives them a lead in.

One more example. This one of the bouquet of roses hubby sent me at work this week. I love the variegated colors in the petals. The crutches in the background isn't something you normally see in a photo of flowers. But the diptych includes his crutches because that helps depict why he sent me the flowers. They were a thank you gift for picking up extra duties around the house and for all the taxi rides I'm now giving him..... well that and because he loves me too.


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Photo diptychs are not just artful photography. They make great inserts into scrapbook LO's and are wonderful for other creative projects too. Has this given you any new ideas for your art projects that includes photos?

I like to seperate my diptychs/triptychs with small margin lines to help frame the pictures. But some folks just bump them up against each other. How about you? Ever done any diptychs or triptychs? Care to try some and show them off here? I'd love to see what you come up with.

Thoughts

-- A set of diptychs collaged around a box that has photos in it
-- A diptych attached to the front of a container that holds momentoes from something special
-- A diptych that includes photos from your trip on the front of your travel journal
-- A photo album full of diptychs from last years family happenings (I'm working on one of those now)
-- Wedding diptych of bride and bouquet, or groom and tie, or couple at alter and closeup of ring exchange
-- Baby diptych of different close up body parts
-- Center any diptych on a photo album page and have minimal or no additional embellishments for a wonderfully understated LO. Let the story go wherever the viewer wants it to.

The ideas are endless!

Want to see more photo examples?

Here's a link to Flickr photos tagged with diptych and Flickr photos tagged with triptych.

If you don't have a graphics program or know how to make your own diptych, you might want to zip over to the Flickr Toys site and use their Mosaic Maker to create one of your own. FYI - you don't have to have a Flickr account to use their toys. But the photos you want to include in your diptych need to be posted somewhere online because you'll need an URL for them.

Let me know if you want any assitance with this and I can walk you through the steps for either using flickr toys or for making your own using software you already have loaded on your computer. You can even create them using a program as basic as the default "Paint" software on most computers operating on Windows.

I love these ideas Cindy! Its inspiring! I love the look of these, especailly for digital scrapping, but its given me some ideas for my paper scrapping too.

Wow, Love the Diptychs...never heard of this before today..and what a neat idea for you photography and scrapping ladies n gents.

Reminds me of "story board" scrap pages.. Let your photos tell the story.. I love all these wonderful and new to me view points. (Wondering if I can do this...gonna try.)

Cindy, do you have to take Alot of shots and sort thru them to find photo diptychs??

Judy - No, I don't think you have to take a lot of photos to make diptychs or triptychs. The exception might be if you are creating them from hardcopy photographs that you haven't scanned into the computer.

For example from one photo I created this tiny diptych:

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From two photos I created this tiny triptych:

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Recognize those pix?
If you tell me what graphics program you use, I could probably write up a little how-to for you.

This is a lake-side picture Miss Benita shared with me the other day:

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It's a beautiful photo in itself. But I wasn't there, so it really holds no specific meaning to me. By making a triptych from the photo, I now have a story I can easily imagine from it.

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Now, here's a triptych I created from this one photo... showing the lake at three different times of the day. Was someone sitting by this boat and taking in the beauty as the day turned to night? Was it the sunrise and the stillness of the water that brought them to this place? Maybe this triptych is actually about a tree by the lake bed and the view he gets to enjoy as each day unfolds? What if the photographer had lost a friend to a boating accident in this lake? The triptych would take on a totally different meaning to them. It might evoke sad memories, or bring about peaceful comforting thoughts of their friends soul at rest.

Click to view attachment
mmmmm..... the story is untold, but offers many possibilities to the viewer. yes/no?

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Using the same photo I created a Triptych with a different feel to it. Because of the piece of the photo I placed at the bottom, I might be introducing a story about how lake-side trash can distroy a beautiful scene or disrupt the flow of nature.

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Chances are good that you never even noticed the trash in the previous photos. But once I highlighted it in a photo of it's own, it became more apparent and is obviously a part of the story here. Or is it? Honestly, I'm not sure if the blue-ish things I'm seeing on either side of the boat are trash. Maybe these objects are funny shaped rocks??? In this story, like the ones I hinted to in the previous triptych... the viewer gets to decide.

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But if Benita were to post such a triptych in her photo album, it might have a different meaning to her as she was actually at this location. It might be reminding her of where she did her daily devotions while at the camp. Place a photo of an open bible somewhere in this art piece, and whala... a totally different story may evolve.

What was she actually thinking about that caused her to click her camera here and at this moment? Was it the color of the sky? The small ripples in the water? The lonely boat on the bank? The sound of the water licking at the shoreline? Maybe the intricate details of the reflections in the water or the full landscape before her? If she were making a diptych or triptych from this photo or others she clicked while at the camp, she'd probably show something completely different than I did.

What a cool entry this could prompt in a creative journal!
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So you see, my friend - one single photo could present several different diptych/triptych opportunities and/or possible stories for the viewer.

Well I took this on as a challenge and put together my own project of the time we were at the lake.

Oh My, I see I have much to learn...the examples you posted sure help. And I have NOT gotten this "beast" to divulge all it is capable of doing. (Beast=computer)

I'm not exactly sure if I have a graphics program,,but I sure will be checking that out. (I probly have 2 or 3 and not know what they are) I'm just not into all the lingo yet.. I know I can do this stuff, but haven't gotten the motivation going. Too many other "hobbies". I sure appreciate you sharing all this info with us..

Loved the "examples"!! Now who's kiddos could they be??

Wow, I've enjoyed reading this thread. I must admit a bit goes over my head, not having done digi but I really love the look of diptychs & triptychs. To me it looks like a fantastic LO that would be used in advertising in a magazine. I really like the look & will get a few pics enlarged and have a go doing a paper LO using the same idea.



Sorry Benita, I commented on your LO in the gallery and called it 'photo blocking' - do pardon my ignorance!

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Debbie, it is a kind of color blocking in a way, if it was done in paper, we most likely would call it that. I have done lots of this kind of scrapping in paper as it is a clean look for an album. Great look for a book that has lots of photos from the same place. I'd love to see what you do with a page in paper, Deb! Be sure to show us!

Ooooh I can see another addiction starting!

I have not long since started digiscrapping, love the easy clean up I guess! Love using storyboards to create gifts for friends.

Have done similar in paper but gave it away! NO pictures of it either, serious duh moment on my part there. Will have to do it again, either digital or paper.

Great to have you here Cherpea! Its sure is addicting..you are so right! But oh so fun! And even more fun when you can tlak about it here with others that are just as addicted!

I was playing around with this bunch of red and green apples. Took about 7 pics of them. Decided these three would make a fun tryptic.

Remember I mentioned we had snow on Easter morn? And that I grabbed a few snapshots of my garden frogs? Well here's a triptych and a diptych from a few of the photos:



Even in the snow they look content in my sleepy garden.

Awesome job Cindy ... love the little frogs in snow and of course you wouldn't expect them there so it's even better. TFS

Triptych of some lillies blooming in my garden. Actually I just planted these new babies this past week!



And you know me, I gotta do a diptych the same time I do the triptych. So here's some tulips also in bloom right now:



Thanks for Looking.

Beautiful flowers Cindy! Grea t way to show them off!

I learned a new term as well as a new technique.... can't wait to give it a try!
THANKS

A new triptych hubby and I did today.
With such a wet year, we've got some really cool dandelions in the yard.
So we had fun with them.



Anyone else interested in posting some new diptychs or triptychs?

These latest pics are fantastic Cindy...love the action shot and the close-ups....great photo of the new do too!

Gorgeous shots Cindy ... and that haircut is stunning!

Thanks. We had fun playing with the dandies. Felt like a kid again blowing the seeds. And they were so big! In our part of the country they usually are only about an inch in diameter. Finding these big ones meant we had to grab the camera. It's rare for us to have a year wet enough for such beauty. We went through four dandies before we could get enough fly-aways to capture the action shot. Fun!

Thanx Tanya for the sweet comment about my doo. It's going to take some getting used to.