Application of Inverse Square Law in Photography: The Nigerian Example

Abstract

Photography is an aspect of the visual arts that falls within the gamut of Graphics. Although photography is Art, it is also a scientific concept and mostly related to mathematics and physics. It is instructive to note here that Art is even more of science than the pure arts; reason is that all aspects of visual arts have some scientific inclinations be it drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, textiles or graphics. It is also ridiculous to hear the society think negatively of the artist as a never-do-well person. It is important for visual artists and photographers to understand the scientific bases of photography. These days almost everybody has become a photographer of some sort in the sense that even the smallest mobile phone comes with digital camera. Selfies (pictures taken personally) is now a daily happening in private and public spaces; we do this photography practices without recourse to the basic principles involved.  It is against this backdrop that this paper takes a look at the scientific background of a very sensitive aspect of the visual arts which is Photography. This paper showcases the application of the Inverse Square law as propounded by Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), a scientist in photography.