OVERVIEW

What gives composition a bad name is the suggestion that there are rules. We have certainly seen examples of how things work, how the principles and elements of design can have predictable effects on viewers, but these are very far from rules. To say that a small amount of yellow complements a large area of violet in a reasonably satisfying way is true, but to claim that you should always strive for this relationship between the two colors is silly. What determines composition is the purpose the intent. As a simple example, is the purpose to please as many people as possible, or to be different and unexpected? Intent does not even have to be that specific; it may be an unspoken individual preference. Nevertheless, awareness of what you want should generally come before you make compositional decisions.

Most photography tends towards the pragmatic, simply because the camera is so well suited to recording and presenting visual information. In terms of quantity, photography is used more in mass communication than in fine art. The leading American graphic designer Milton Glaser wrote, "As society developed, the information and the art functions diverged, and distinctions were made between high art and communicating information to increasing numbers of people." That most photography falls on the mass communications side of this divide is because it is so easy to reproduce, and because it is so widely used non-professionally, both mitigating the evolution of clear individual style. Style in photography, with which we will conclude...