L. Ron Hubbard used a scale replica of Vasco da Gama’s flagship to capture this shot near Lisbon
L. Ron Hubbard used a scale replica of Vasco da Gama’s flagship to capture this shot near Lisbon.

      To the same essential end–the raising of technical standards for real photographic communication–one further finds the decisive LRH word on composition. Again, the matter is in no way theoretical or academic. For notwithstanding the myriad of seemingly instructional texts, one could not actually isolate a workable definition of the word; hence the conflicting opinions on just what comprises the well-composed shot, or for that matter, any well-composed scene. In reply,
Oporto, Portugal, 1972, photographed by L. Ron Hubbard
Oporto, Portugal, 1972, photographed by L. Ron Hubbard.

and quite decisively so, we come to this LRH definition: “THE ARRANGEMENT OF OBJECTS AND PEOPLE IN THE SCENE TO FORWARD THE MESSAGE.” As astute readers might imagine, the statement bears upon far more than might meet the casual eye and, factually, there is no visual medium to which it does not apply. Yet for the moment, let us simply bear in mind what else Ron had to say on the subject–namely, all successful works of art have a message. “It may be implicit or implied, emotional, conceptual or literal, inferred or stated.”

      In addition to the larger body of LRH photographs assembled in a traveling exhibition described as, L. Ron Hubbard: Images of a Lifetime, specific works cited in this publication may be found in a text of the same name and the annual LRH calendars. In total, his photographic works comprise a library of some thirty thousand images–from his earliest shots with that Kodak Brownie to the landscapes of Sussex and seascapes of the Caribbean–and otherwise describe a man who long wrote with light.



writing with light



Writer Photographer Filmmaker Maker of music Philosopher of Art