Framing a picture — Art, 4–6
You can choose what goes inside the edge of a picture, just as you choose what you can see through a window.
A frame chooses the view
A frame is the edge around a picture, but it does more than decorate it. It chooses what you can see and what stays outside. Move the frame closer and you may see a face; move it away and you may see the whole person and the room. When you make art, you choose the view.
Why choose a frame?
Without a chosen edge, a picture can include too much or leave out the part you wanted to show. Artists, photographers and filmmakers need to guide the viewer’s eyes. A frame solves this problem: it says, “Look here for now.” It does not mean that everything outside the frame is unimportant.
Try two views
Put a toy car and a tree on a table. First, hold a cardboard rectangle close to the car: the car fills the picture, and the tree disappears. Next, hold the rectangle farther away: both objects fit inside, with more table around them. Nothing moved, but the frame changed the story from “car” to “car in a place.”
The frame is not just decoration
You might think a frame is only the pretty border added after the picture is finished. That is reasonable, because frames are often made from wood or coloured card. But the edge can change the meaning before any decoration is added. Test it by moving a paper window over your drawing and noticing what appears or vanishes.
Frames are everywhere
A camera, a phone, a television and a book page all use edges to choose a view. A shop window frames the things it wants you to notice. When you look through a real window, you can also make a picture with your hands by choosing a small or wide view. Try comparing what each view makes you notice.
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