Rome of the West

A NEW POSTING, over on my photography blog: Composition, Part 1 - the Frame.

There, I am attempting to discover a solid foundation for composition of photos:

“I am not so naïve to believe that all I need to do is to learn rules of composition, which will automatically produce pleasing images. But neither am I satisfied the advice that I ought to simply adjust my image until it looks good to me. What if all my adjustments are unsatisfactory? Why are they not satisfactory?”

The most certain and most objective compositional element of a photograph is the frame. Is it tall, wide, narrow, or square? Each of these has its own strengths and weaknesses. The article, working from that observation, attempts to delve into various theories of the photo frame.

On the one hand, we have to avoid the extreme skepticism that tells us that composition doesn’t matter at all. On the other hand, we have to avoid numerology — often found in artistic and conspiratorial discussions of the Golden Ratio, or φ (which is found in the terrible but popular book The Da Vinci Code). Then I discuss the Rule of Thirds, a common compositional tool, and discuss how it is only a very small part of the classical harmonies; the vast variety of harmonies are more like design guidelines rather than immutable laws.

Composition, Part 1 - the Frame