In the modern world, the term refers to an artistic work consisting of two separate parts, usually paintings or photographs, placed next to each other as a pair in order to convey an idea or feeling.

According to the Gestalt principle of “proximity,” when we see two things next to each other, our mind assumes some kind of relationship between them. Otherwise, why would they be together?

Simply by the fact that they consist of two parts joined together, all diptychs imply some kind of duality, binary, polarity, or analogy. The questions then become:

• “How does this compare to that?”
• “How are this and that alike, or different?”
• “How do these two things interact with each other?
• “What holds these two things together?

Here and there

Some diptychs involve a shift in viewpoint. We look at the scene from here and there, this way and that way. When you take the photos for a diptych, shoot the subject from a variety of distances and viewpoints. See which shots work well together as a pair. Split one image into the two parts for the diptych. The results might simply look like you cut one photo into two, which indeed is what you did– like dividing in half the person in a portrait. That “divided in two” becomes part of your statement.

Then, now… now, later

Time moves from the past, through the present, into the future. The temporal shift between the two parts of the diptych might suggest “then to now”… “now to later”…“before and after.” For example, imagine a shot of Joe coming into his surprise birthday party, next to one of him being cheered by his friends… Imagine a shot of a woman reading on a park bench, next to one showing her walking away into the busy city street…. Imagine a shot of a child with long hair, along with one of her hair cut.

Tell me a story

Like the frames in a movie film strip, or illustrations in a book, a diptych can tell a story. Impressions of movement, transitions from here to there, and then-now-later scenarios all imply a story being told. Some diptychs also imply a “cause and effect,” as in a shot of a glass of milk on a table followed by one of a guilty looking child standing next to the glass split on the floor. In some cases what happened between the two shots, the empty space that separates them, can be a very interesting and perhaps even mysterious part of the story.

Opposites attract

Some diptychs play with opposites and contrasts. Right versus wrong. Good versus bad. Morning versus night. Dirty versus clean. Color versus black-and-white. The list could go on and on. In the Christian history, diptychs contained a painting of a living person next to one of someone who had died.

The interesting thing about opposites is that they attract each other. They form a polarity in which some underlying force holds them together in their dynamic relationship. Right and wrong is about morality. Morning and night are about times of the day. Life and death are about the progression of the spirit. These underlying ideas might be the artistic statement.

How are an orange and banana alike?

Some dipytchs suggest similarity. The degree of similarity might be obvious. An extremely colorful picture of flowers next to an extremely colorful picture of bottle caps is clearly about color. A diptych also might challenge you to find the similarity.

Diptychs based on analogy pose the question, “How is this like that?” It’s a metaphor or simile. While some diptychs quite clearly illustrate how this is like that, others might be much more illusive and thought-provoking.

What’s the same, and what’s different?

Two sides of the same coin

Rather than implying similarities or contrasts, the diptych can also portray two ways of looking at the same subject, or two aspects of the same subject. A good example are diptychs showing us the same person with different facial expressions, body language, or clothes, or in different situations. Or a city during the day and at night.

Folded in two

That’s the Greek translation of “diptych.” As you look at the two parts, can you see how one folds into the other? Where is the hinge? What results when the two parts close together and come to rest, both in composition and concept?

Left-right, up-down, all around

Diptychs can place their images side-by-side, top and bottom, or the more atypical uneven and off-kilter arrangements.

Two is better than one

Gestalt psychology tells us that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, or at least different than the sum of its parts. That means the two images combined in a diptych give you something that they lack individually. Separate photos of a man and of a woman tell you about a man and a woman, but as a diptych they speak to gender and gender relationships. Any two images that work well as a team in conveying an idea, story, association, or relationship – something that neither photo alone reveals - could be fodder for a diptych.

Dividing one into two

A shot might be ripe for a diptych all by itself, simply by dividing it in two. This strategy will work better for some photos than others. Look for a break in the image that makes sense visually, conceptually, or emotionally.

Natural diptychs

Some scenes provide a visual barrier that you can use to create a simulated diptych – such as poles, columns, and tree trunks, which serve as the dividor or hinge between the two parts. Compose the shot so that barrier separates the image into two interesting sections, either horizontally or vertically. In the street photo of the younger and older woman about to cross paths, the utility pole divides them into their discrete sides, while also reminding us that they share the same boundaries of “city streets.” The world speaks to us through these natural diptychs. It tells us that, depending on our point of view, life sometimes separates out into distinct but related parts.

Assignment:

1. Take a minimum of of 50 photos.
2. Create 3 diptychs
3. Submit contact sheets & 3 corrected diptychs to flickr in an album called Diptychs