Flats near Diamond Hill, Hong Kong making use of repeated rectangular shapes.
If I were asked which book has had the biggest impact on my photography, and therefore the first book I would ever recommend to someone starting out or looking to improve the photos they are taking, I would immediately say Bryan Peterson’s Learning to See Creatively. I have quite an old edition from 1988, so I haven’t seen what has changed in more recent editions but a quick look at the contents page on Amazon suggests the crucial sections are still in there. The magic of the book is that it gives you the tools to produce good images from the least promising looking surroundings, and exceptionally good photographs if ‘the stars align’. Whilst the book covers much more than the following, Peterson taught me to look for certain design elements, the favourite ones of which for me are lines, shape, and patterns (others are form and texture). I then like to play around with them as the basis for many of my photographs. These are fairly simple things to learn, and once pointed out to you, you will see potential all around you. So lets look at each briefly with some examples.
Lines
Reeds at Thornham Marsh in Norfolk, UK, very literally demonstrate how curved lines represent nature.
Lines can invoke a sense of strength and pride if they appear vertically, or a sense of nature if they bend and curve. However, if I look to have them run diagonally through a photograph then they inject a sense of speed and dynamism. This is easy to achieve in situations involving paving stones or boardwalks. For instance, I had been struggling to find something inspiring to photograph during a work trip to Barcelona back in June but then I found myself down by the marina at sunset. The marina has these boardwalk ways and footbridges called ‘Rambla de Mar’, as well as some spectacular and sinuous curving metal structures holding it all up. Suddenly there were lines everywhere for me to explore. Using the raking light I was able to position three friends so that the diagonal lines give a sense of dynamic and speed, drawing the eyes to them. The background vertical lines balance this with a sense of strength. The friends noticed I was taking their photo, and were cool about it, but that also added to the photo in that one of the men makes eye contact with us as a viewer. This, by the way, was another one of those Rolleiflex moments where the camera relaxes the subjects, and in fact whilst walking across the boardwalk, a man screeched to a halt on his bike because he’d seen the camera and wanted to know more about it. We had a nice chat – so get a Rolleiflex if you want to make friends around the world!
Rambla de Mar, Barcelona making use of diagonal and vertical lines.
Shape
Peterson states that shapes are more important than a number of the other design elements, because it helps the viewer to comprehend – as he describes, seeing the shape of a rose confirms the scent you had previously detected. And again, different shapes evoke different feelings in the viewer. Squares and rectangles are stable and symbolise manmade structures; triangles lying on a flat edge are strong in contrast to a triangle on its tip, which is precarious.
What I like to play with is using shape to disrupt and disturb the viewer, and where available to support the focal point of the photograph. Again, my evening at Rambla de Mar presented me with the perfect opportunity for this. The boardwalk’s edge had been cut at an angle jutting into the harbour, and a man was relaxing right on the tip of this watching something on his mobile phone. I immediately saw the potential of this composition, and with a simple quadrilateral shape supporting the point of interest… and also that there was no rush to get the photograph. This meant I could wait for a sailing boat to pass into the frame before taking the shot. It is a very deliberate and deliberative image and I was very satisfied when the film came back from the developers and it matched my expectations.
On the Harbour’s Edge, Barcelona uses shape to forcefully insert the subject into the scene and in doing so disrupt and disturb the viewer’s experience.
There are many other examples of shapes being used to disrupt an image on this website and on my Instagram feed, but perhaps most recently in the Wan Chai street food seller image in which two triangles are used to block out a clear view of the story developing between the seller and the elegant lady buying her food. One of the triangles also helps the viewer to geographically locate the scene.
Wan Chai Street Food seller deploys two triangles to mask and frame the scene being acted out by the seller and the buyer.
Pattern
The idea behind repeat patterns is that the emotion of a single instance of a shape or form becomes multiplied by the reoccurrence. So if spheres illicit a sense of wholeness, a photograph of many rounded flower heads will multiply this response. If a vertical line suggests dignity, many lines reinforce this, and so on. For me there is also a certain sense of comfort in repetition.
Walking around Hong Kong’s flower market, bunches of flowers for flower arranging provide uniform beauty and repeat patterns when viewed from directly above.
Doing my own thing?
There’s something I have noticed in my photographs and scenes that I seem to get drawn towards and enjoy playing with. I like lines that converge towards a vanishing point and then placing a subject matter within that scene. It reminds me of a theatre stage set since an image which is viewed on a flat surface achieves the illusion of greater depth, in the same way that theatre set designers have to create a far greater sense of depth in their staging than is really there. I’m not entirely sure where this fits within Peterson’s observations since it seems to draw upon lines (in this case lines of perspective) that pull the viewer into the picture, and also ‘form’ (simply a three-dimensional take on ‘shape’) since the subject is placed within an implied box. The man holding the bird cage at Hong Kong market is a lovely, and subtle, example of this staging and use of vanishing points.
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; they have their entrances and exits, and one man in his time plays many parts. (‘As you like it’, William Shakespeare)
At other times, I use lines moving towards a vanishing point in order to lead the viewer through the story of the photograph, and this is evident in the Kowloon waterfront photograph.
The converging lines of the handrail barrier leads the viewer past the various characters and the arch of the tree then takes the eye over to the Hong Kong skyline.
Bringing it all together
It is, of course, possible to include more than one of these design elements, and this can be seen in the following images. The first from the walkway that leads from the metro to the airport terminal buildings in Barcelona uses lines, shape and patterns (in the lines and ceiling lights – the latter of which also implies a further line going to a vanishing point).
Barcelona Airport Walkway. Arguably another example of staging with vanishing points, but also liberal use of lines, shape with the triangular blocks, and pattern in the window bar lines and ceiling lights.
The gardener walking between colonnades is staged within a repeating pattern of rectangles and implied lines leading to a vanishing point.
Nan Lian Gardens, Hong Kong
So when walking around with my camera, it is these design elements I am looking out for, in addition to an eye catching subject matter. Once you know what you are looking out for, it becomes hard not to see lines and shapes etc. And if I can bring both together, I know I have the chance of capturing something really eye catching. So thank you Bryan Peterson! Read his book - it really helped me to develop as a photographer.