A SINGLE POINT

4 he most basic element of all is the point. By

definition, a point has to be a very small part
of the total image, but to be significant it must
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contrast in some way with its setting—in tone or
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color, for example. The simplest form of a point WITHTHEFRAME)NONETHEREAREIMPLIEDFORCESTHAT
in a photograph is an isolated object seen from AREINPROPORTIONTOITSDISTANCEFROMEACHCORNERAND
a distance, against a relatively plain background, SIDE)NTHEOTHERIMPLIEDLINESSUGGESTAHORIZONTAL
such as a boat on water, or a bird against the ANDVERTICALDIVISIONOFTHEFRAME
sky. There is no simpler design situation in
photography than this: one element without
significant shape, and a single background.
The main consideration, then, is the matter of
placement. Wherever the point is in the frame, it
will be seen straight away. Placing it in a certain
position is chiefly for the aesthetics of the picture,
to give it whatever balance or interest is wanted,
and perhaps paying heed to background.
Some of the issues involved in positioning the
subject in the frame have already been covered on
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pages 24-25, and most of what was said applies 3TATICANDUSUALLYDULL
here. To summarize: from a purely aesthetic point
of view, placing a point right in the middle of
the frame may be logical, but it is also static and
uninteresting, and is rarely satisfactory. The choice
then becomes how far off center to place the
point, and in what direction? The more eccentric
the position, the more it demands justification.
Free placement, however, is never guaranteed
in photography, and the conditions are often such
that you cannot arrange things exactly as you
would like them, even with changes of lens or
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viewpoint. This is the case with the photograph -ARKEDLYECCENTRICNEEDINGSOMEJUSTI½CATION
of the rice farmer on pages 68-69, but the result
is still not so bad. What it demonstrates is how
much leeway exists in photographic composition.
Also (and this is a personal judgment), it
is usually better to err on the side of doing
something unusual than to be predictable.

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