The simplest way to achieve balance is through symmetry, but unless symmetrical compositions are handled deftly they can be terribly boring. Asymmetrical balance is more difficult but usually more exciting. Balance, like the other elements of composition, should be carefully considered so as to be compatible with the desired mood. If you wish to create a strange, mysterious, or disquieting feeling, imbalance may be more effective than balance. Consider this along with the thoughts about lines, forms, and contrasts to help create a mood in your imagery. In addition to the underlying feeling of excitement or relaxation imparted by lines, forms, and contrasts, balance or imbalance can help create comfort or discomfort. The combination can be very powerful indeed.
What about top/bottom balance or top/bottom imbalance of tonality or subject? This is not a problem. The word “balance” implies a left/right equality; “imbalance”, a left/right inequality. In Figure 3-10, all of the real interest is in the bottom half of the photograph, with the top half solidly black. Tonal or subject imbalance seems to be quite apparent and often disconcerting if it occurs in a left/right orientation, but hardly noticeable when it occurs in a top/bottom orientation. Maybe it’s just the fallout from the fact that our bodies, faces, etc. have left/right symmetry but not top/bottom symmetry. I believe that we simply notice differences far more in the left/right direction than the up/down direction.
Movement
The way in which the eye moves through a photograph—along the succession of lines, forms, contrasts, and objects—defines the movement of the photograph. In many of my slit canyon photographs, the movement occurs in a circular, almost spiral fashion, whereas in many of my forest studies the movement comprises up/down verticals along the trunks of the trees. The great conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest consist of noble, straight trees that convey a feeling of stability and strength, whereas the oak forests of the Southeast have intricate, curved forms that convey a range of feelings from wild abandon to gentleness. Movement causes excitement, and the stronger the movement, the greater the excitement.
In Figure 3-6, the movement occurs in a circular, almost spiral fashion. In Figure 3-7, the movement is strongly upward and to the right, along the trunk of the fallen giant. The same upward, rightward movement is seen in Figure 3-9. In Figure 3-11, the movement radiates outward like a pinwheel from the left center. The image almost seems to be in motion, which is true of the land itself. Movement causes excitement, and the stronger the movement, the greater the excitement.
Movement and balance are interrelated. If movement is from right-to-left, for example, greater weight can be placed on the right to maintain balance, for the leftward movement counterbalances the imbalance on the right. Movement can also be used to create imbalance and tension, and with it a greater degree of excitement.
In the past, I demanded movement in most of my own work, yet my attitude toward the importance of movement has changed as I have seen more and more fine photographs that stand on their own without a strong directional flow. Perhaps this change of attitude paved the way for my studies of urban centers throughout the United States and Canada. These images rely on the static, cold architecture that now dominates our urban environments. For the most part, the images from this series avoid movement and instead search for geometric patterns. Lack of movement does not imply lack of quality. Movement, like contrast and tone, must be compatible with the mood of a print.
All of the interest in the image is in the lower half, as the sky is pure black. A top/bottom imbalance is not bothersome, but a left/right imbalance is indeed bothersome. Tonal imbalances can create uncertainty and disorientation, but apparently only left/right imbalances can do this.
Figure 3-10. Hills and Clouds, Central California
Parts of Utah are like outer space: unearthly and seemingly in motion. It almost appears as though the land is spiraling outward from the central rock. Such formations are found nowhere else on earth, and they deserve the strongest possible protection.
Figure 3-11. Liquid Land, Utah
Positive/Negative Space
The light and dark areas in the scene before your eyes, and those same areas in your photographs, are the so-called positive and negative spaces. For the moment, the positive spaces may be thought of as rocks in a stream and the negative spaces as the flowing stream. Does the stream flow? If not, are the interactions between the positive and negative spaces exciting or dull? Are the forms of the positive and negative spaces elegant or inelegant? Are the flow lines interestingly patterned, or static, disconnected, or broken? An easy way to check is to squint your eyes and blur the image (or, if you wear glasses, take them off) so you see only the major forms but not the finer details. Then ask yourself those questions. The general forms and patterns of the interactions are extremely important in the overall design of your photograph.
Also, while the image is blurred, see if the overall effect of the tonal interactions is satisfying or dissatisfying to you. We often get so involved in the details of an image that we fail to see its overall forms and patterns, or the interactions of the positive and negative spaces.
Do the positive and negative spaces balance? This is not to ask whether the image is 50 percent light and 50 percent dark, but rather how the positive or negative spaces on one side or corner compare to the other. Look to see how balanced or unbalanced the photograph may be in terms of positive/negative space (Figure 2-1).
Also, be aware of the fact that negative space can be bright as well as dark. As a simple example, if you look at the interior of a room with distant windows that open onto a bright, blank exterior, the window areas are negative spaces within the image. Looking back to Figure 1-6, you’ll see that the near columns and arches are the positive spaces, and the distant nave is the negative space.
Brett Weston is renowned for his use of positive/negative space. He often employed brilliant forms set against a glowing black background. The success of his photographs rests on the interplay of tonalities, as well as the wonderful forms of both the brilliant foreground object(s) and the black background areas. Without the lyrical forms that are so apparent in Weston’s work, the positive/negative interactions would likely come across as little more than excess contrast, but he turns them into elements of rich, flowing design.
Texture
Texture is often overlooked as an element of composition. It can be a most compelling visual treat. Whether it is the roughness of rock, the fluidity of water, the smoothness or cragginess of skin, the sheen of a metallic object, the soft modulations of clouds, or any of an infinite number of other textures, their detailed delineation will immeasurably enhance any photograph (Figure 3-12).
Often, two elements within a photograph lie side-by-side with similar tonal values and only textural differences to distinguish them. In nature, a boulder pressed against a tree trunk could be such an example. Textural differences may well be enough to hold the viewer’s attention to a study of nature.
Edward Weston was a foremost exponent of texture. Many of his famous nudes on sand and his rocks at Point Lobos are studies of textures and forms. His unexcelled still lifes, too, are remarkable studies of texture, form, and light. Photographers often underestimate the importance of texture, but in the hands of a master like Weston it becomes a prime element of fine art.