We all know it when we see it; some photographs just stand out from the rest.  Of the many contributors to a photograph, perhaps none is more powerful a determiner of success than composition.  There are many aspects of and techniques to achieving good composition, but the common goal of all these facets is to create an aesthetic that engages the viewer at an emotional level.

 

One result of good composition can be the choreographing of the viewer’s eye movements.  A whole photograph can be a lot to take in all at once; if we can prescribe a path through which the viewer can navigate the photograph, then we have lowered a barrier to enjoyment.  One of the more effective techniques for choreographing eye movements is “leading lines”, where lines in features tend to point to or converge on elements of interest.  The lines themselves are sometimes quite unremarkable, so their effect on the composition is indirect (albeit extremely valuable).  Doing a Google image search on “leading lines” will reveal many good examples of the technique.  In such examples, you’ll find many instances where the term “line” has been broadened to include curves.  Curves can serve the same purpose as lines — leading eye movements through an image — but they can also be stronger and more primary contributors to a successful photograph.

 

We may be biologically pre-wired with an attraction to curves.  Whereas lines (or line segments), in the strictest mathematical sense, are uniform and predictable, curves offer some compelling variety.  They may be portions of conic sections (such as ellipses or parabolas), they can be tight or loose, they can have varying curvature, they can inflect (change course — an S-curve), and they can have repeating patterns (like the meandering of a river).  This variability leads to unpredictability.  When we see a portion of a line, we know where it will go next; when we see a portion of a curve, we often can’t predict where it will go next, and so our curiosity causes us to follow that curve to see where it will go.

 

 

The above image, without the curve of the green-orange bacteria mat, would be rather boring — there is a lot of monotonous grey that fails to grab our attention.  By using a wide-angle lens, I was able to dramatize the curvature in the scene.  The curve helps break up the image, give it some balance, and provide a path for our eyes to navigate through an otherwise dull scene.