Further Musings on Composition

Thoughts at 2,000 Hours

My aim with this post is to dig a little deeper into the area of composition.  My first post on this subject: “Composition – Early Thoughts” recognized that this was an area of potential for growth, i.e., weakness, for me and laid out the basics of what I knew, pretty much at the start of my 10,000 hour project.  In the 16 months since that post, and 2,000 hours of deliberate practice later, I understand a little more about both the psychology that underpins best photographic practice and the practical application of this knowledge.

As photographers we strive to create an image that:

1. Piques and maintains the viewer’s interest
2. Guides the viewer around the image concentrating on the key subject
3. Conveys the desired story or emotion
4. Achieves the above in the simplest, most efficient manner.

Whilst my first post covered the rules of composition, I tend these days to think in terms of pictorial elements and how their placement contributes or otherwise towards a successful image.

 

I am always delighted to receive feedback, and feedback is essential for this project as a whole.  So, if you have any comments, ideas or suggestions, please post them below.

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Pictorial Composition – Top Level Objectives

In its essence composition is no more or less than the arrangement of pictorial elements in a frame such that the result is aesthetically pleasing.  The photographer’s job is to identify these pictorial elements, isolate them, and arrange them within a frame in the most effective manner.

In terms of landscape photography, Melissa Brown famously said “In every landscape should reside jewels of abstract art waiting to be discovered”, which implies that it is the photographer’s job to find these jewels.  I would assert that the photographer’s job is to find jewels of abstract art in whatever scene they are shooting, regardless of genre.

Eileen Rafferty, (my analysis from the 11th April 2019), defines a picture in terms of its:

• Subject: what the picture is about?  What is the element of picture we want the viewer to concentrate on?
• Form: lines, shapes, colours, texture; i.e., compositional elements
• Content: meaning, emotion or mood.

From this perspective, composition is positioning the dominant lines, shapes, colours, etc., around the subject, to support the intended meaning, emotion or mood.

What is a Pictorial Element?

The pictorial elements within a frame are those features to which the eye is naturally drawn.  These include:

• Areas of high contrast, including:
  • bold lines or shapes
  • distinctive textures
  • bright areas in the images
• Bold colours
• Faces and in particular eyes.

Any image will have a hierarchy of pictorial elements from the boldest and most dominant downwards.  In a low-key portrait,like the one to the right, the eye has nowhere to go apart from the main pictorial element, which on its own makes this form of portraiture effective.  However, within the face, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the eyes of the subject, then the other pictorial elements in the frame, e.g., other facial feature, hair, and glasses or jewelry if worn.  The photographer’s lighting choices alter the emphasis of the subjects features, changing their relative dominance as pictorial elements with in the frame.

Positioning

In my previous post on composition I mentioned “Rules of Thirds and Variations Thereof” as a generally more aesthetically pleasing positional strategy than simply dumping the subject smack in the middle of the image.  Let’s now look a little deeper into placement strategies.

• Central Placement: elements placed centrally in an image are static, which can support an impression of dominance
• On the Thirds: giving the subject room to look into or move, even if it is a person looking directly at the camera, makes the know image more dynamic.  The portrait above benefits significantly from the off-centre positioning of the subject
• On the Edge of the Frame: elements touching the edge of the frame tend to attract the viewer’s eye.  This is why background objects touching the edge are often considered a distraction to be avoided.  However, the reverse of this situation is also true: when the subject of the image is on the edge of the frame any elements in the middle are a distraction.

The above image by Guy Bourdin is a fine example of “breaking the rules” and arranging the pictorial elements around the outside of the frame.

Composition and Colour Theory

Note in the above paragraph, I used the term “positioning” in relation to the role composition plays in ensuring that the lines, shapes, colours and textures support the meaning, emotion and mood of the picture.  This is because the impact of colour, in terms of specific psychological associations, goes beyond its contribution to a picture’s composition and beyond the scope of this post.  See: “Colour Theory – First Learnings“, (another post in need of an update).

Abstract Art

To call a photograph a “record shot” is a damning indictment of that image as an accurate yet artless representation of a subject.  The polar opposite of this is an abstract, when the subject is not the point of the picture, and is often either partially or fully obscured.  Extreme abstraction, as in some of the most famous work by Mark Rothko, transcends even human emotion and becomes an object of contemplation to which the viewer brings at least half of the thought.

Meaning, emotion or mood of a picture may be enhanced without the distracting concentration on subject.

What Next?

This is a post I expect to revise at least twice more before the end of this project.  There is much to be learned from the cross over from other forms of art beyond the various photographic genres.

I am also interested in the psychology and physiology of visual perception and how this impacts aesthetics.  My research to date has shown that the human brain has evolved such that various regions of the occipital lobe (the part of the brain involved with seeing) perform specialist functions in helping us identify moving objects or faces.  Currently doing more research in this area and actively looking for further references.

 

Please Help

As mentioned at the top of this post, this is a topic I hope to review regularly. If you have any suggestions, thoughts or comments, please post them below.

To see more posts by me, or to follow my learning progress, please like or follow me on the social media channel of your choice to the right.

Thank you.