Rules of Photography
For new photographers, the rules in photography mean guidelines for taking photos that look good. “Good,” in other words, means styles that we often see in public. The rules may help photographers to be aware of how to take good photos, where your object should be in the frame, how to make it look balanced, etc. The purpose of rules in photography is to give people who are new to photography basic knowledge about photography, which is essential further on if they want to develop their own style. One of the most important rules in photography is the rule of thirds. This composition guideline splits your frame into 3×3, which helps you balance your main object in the structure; you can put it in the left to the right third of the frame. We are also taught not to cut off any limbs at joints in our photos. This creates a weird visual in images that the person looks amputated, which distracts others when looking at the pictures.
Does Breaking Rules Affect the Photos’ Aesthetics?
Breaking the rules does not affect the photos’ aesthetics. In fact, breaking the rules can sometimes add aesthetics to the pictures. The aesthetic is not restricted, nor should it be limited by several regulations. For instance, “wall 01” may be blurry and too close to the object, but the color and the composition of the shadow on the wall express another aesthetic. The camera captured the interesting irregular shapes created by the combination of a curve and a straight line of the shadow, which is also artistic, and I like it.
Another example would be “exit 01”; although there is too much negative space on top of the frame, it leads the audience’s attention to the exit sign, the main object in this picture. To a certain extent, lots of negative space now became purposely since it highlights the main object, which is what the photographer wants audiences to pay attention to. In addition, “black box 01” also has lots of negative space on the right of the picture. Like “exit 01”, the negative space leads attention to the iPhone, where the light is overexposed. The white light contrasts the dark places in the rest of the picture, emphasizing the light.
People who are new to photography are taught to take photos “correctly,” which means following the rules of photography. These rules may help new photographers take good pictures, but photos’ aesthetics should not be restricted by these rules. Getting caught in the rules may make your photos look “boring.” To be more specific, your photos would lose their vividness. On the other hand, being regulated and restricted may mean that you are catering to the public’s aesthetic. Aesthetic is subjective. Photographers should have their own aesthetic and creative way of taking pictures to convey the messages they want to show to the public through photos.
Creativity is an essential part of art. If there is no creativity, how can it be called art? And creativity includes breaking the rules.
“WRONG”
At first, when my partner and I viewed this picture without the word “wrong” at the bottom of the picture, we disliked it because it seemed random and had no focus. The man was not placed in the center, which created a feeling of unbalance. The cars and leaves on both sides of the picture were unnecessary. Also, this picture had too much negative space (the white part), which was a waste of space, but I like its vintage look. However, things make sense after seeing the word “wrong” at the bottom of the picture. The term “wrong” clarified the picture’s intention, which let the audience notice that the elements in this picture were intentional. Without the word, this photo makes no sense since everything in this picture breaks the “rules.”
Context gives photos a purpose and sets a mission for photographers about how they want to convey their message, which helps them create good pictures. Photos would make no sense without any context, therefore losing their meaning.