Balance

Analysis of a selection of photographs taken for other projects


1)- Bric-a-brac stall

The image is balanced by having the two main elements, the people, evenly distributed either side of the obvious central element, the statue's head.

This is even more obvious when the composition is simplified by close cropping. Not only is the image balanced, attracting the viewer to look equally to all parts of the image, the eye is also guided around the main elements by the triangle created by the three heads.





2)- Falcon and handler

The smaller element, the bird, is nearer the centre while the larger person is at the edge. In terms of 'volume' this is, therefore, imbalanced. However, the bird is a much more prominent element because it is complete and there is a fair amount of contrast in its plumage. The girl's colour is much more muted, the most prominent part being the face, which is smaller than the bird. Overall, therefore, there seems to be reasonable balance in the image.




3)- Night spider

The balance here is in the symmetry on all axes with the lines of the web radiating from the centre, where the spider, the main focal point, is situated.









4)- Palm leaf

The balance in this image is created by the symmetry around a vertical axis.










5)- Horizons

Neither of these images work because they are imbalanced. The first one is bottom heavy, flat and solid. The lack of sufficient sky reduces the sense of depth. It's just a picture of gravel and scrub.

Whereas this image is top heavy and there's not enough prominence in the sea or the boat to give any sense of a journey into the distance. It's little more than a picture of clouds.






6)- Water-skier

This image may appear imbalanced because there is only one prominent element and it is left of centre. However, the emphasis is on showing movement into space rather than balance, therefore the image works. Placing the skier in the centre would diminish the sense of speed created by the motion blur.




7)- White monument

In this image, also, there appears to be only one major element, left of centre. It is clearly not moving so the question of balance is perhaps more important.  The monument constitutes a fairly large area of white, close to the centre and, to some extent, the balance is established by the area of sunlit hillside to the right. It keeps the viewer's eye moving across the whole picture rather than sticking on the monument.