Brief
Take three of four photographs in which a single point is placed in different parts of the frame. When composing the shots use these three rules:
. the place of the point shouldn’t be too obvious(such as right in the middle)
. the composition should hold tension and balanced (the golden section or rule of thirds)
. the point should be easy to see)
Evaluate the shots according to these rules and select which one you think works best.

Then take a few more shots without any rules, just being aware of the relationship of the point of the frame. Without rules how can you evaluate the shots? That will be a key question throughout the whole degree programme.

I have often wondered what makes a “great photo” i believe that it can be many things such as perfect technical image, an image of historical or world importance, an iconic journalistic image, a beautiful artistic image or indeed any image that provokes some sort of emotion or thought.
Rules in photography or art seem to be there to help the artist to achieve one or more of the above. I suppose its all down to what the artist wants the image to convey.
I have to say that I love the rule of thirds and now find myself using them unconsciously. I love the impact they can have on what could be inane, static images and the way they can help to provoke thought and imagination. I’m a great fan of images that only tell a bit of the story leaving the rest up to the imagination.

When I first looked at completing this exercise I thought it might be worthwhile just taking a point (pool ball!) on a relatively blank background (pool table!) to get me started with the idea of point in a particular place in the frame, and what difference it might make without the influence of foreground or background items. I noticed that the shadows were influencing the eye but decided no to try and get a completely blank background as they were making a statement in themselves.
Points 1,2,3 and 4 are balanced, as is point 5 which appears more static. The eye goes straight to it without any need to look anywhere else in the frame. Point 3 causes the eye to move up and to the right but I think this may be due to the shadow. Point 1 is a bit uncomfortable because the placing and the shadows cause the eye to move up and to the right and out of the frame.

Looking at one of my favourite photographers , Anja Neideringhause, I found a couple of images showing that where something is placed in the frame can make a big difference in how the eye perceives it and how the eye moves across the image.
In Flag Rebel (2011) the eye goes straight to the man wrapped in the flag which is situated on the intersection of the lower left grids (rule of thirds). It is also the strongest colour and immediately attracts the eye. The eye then moves above to the car, then to the car on the right and back to the man.
In Afghanistan’s Record Opium Year (2013) the boy in the bottom right hand corner is almost out of the shot.  Although placing him in this part of the frame is uncomfortable because there is no space for him to move into, it works. I was left not knowing if he had a long way to go or if he was heading for something that was just out of shot. His posture tells me that it may be the former. The lines in the image however distract from the boy and the eye is led up and down the lines, to the left and right, where, if the viewer hadn’t already seen the boy they would see him now. There is a lot of movement in this shot and a lot of things that take a while to see such as the mountains and the sky.

When I went out with my camera looking for scenes that had a “point” in them I was surprised how confused I got about what constitutes a point.  I decided to look for both Point and Line shots (for the next exercise)
Looking for “Point” shots started out being far more difficult than I imagined! For the first 30-45 minutes of walking around, I really didn’t see anything that constituted a point at all.
I looked again at the brief and took on board the fact that the point should be small within the frame and easy to see. I realised that the things that tended to catch my eye were either a strong colour, or bright against a darker background.
I decided to leave “Point” for a while and look for lines. Thats when I started seeing “Points” (typical!)
In the image below I was looking to create a sense of depth using a wide angled lens to shoot the lines on the ground and the row of pillars on the left (for the next exercise). When reviewing the shot I noticed the bike with the red child carrier to the left of the frame (Point)  and a person wearing a red T-shirt in the centre (Point). I noticed that in this shot, the eyes are drawn down the lines then left and right between the 2 points. It struck me that points and lines together might give an interesting dimension to images that I hadn’t conciously thought about before.

Still looking for points, i wondered if 2 points were very close together would they act as one, as long as they were small in the frame and easy to see. I had seen these 2 small signs on what I had taken initially as a fairly blank background. When I looked at the shots I realised that the images ended up with lots of movement around the points and then along all the lines. In the first image where the 2 points are in the centre They do appear to be acting as one but their effect as a point is being disrupted somewhat by the strong horizontal and vertical lines. Placing these points in the middle seems to be less static because of the lines than they might be if the background was completely blank. The eye is down to the centre then along the horizontal and vertical lines. In the second image the effect is the same but although the eye is drawn to the points it then moves left and right and along the converging lines to the edge of the image. It also seems to be drawn back again by the points, so doesn’t actually flow out of the image.

My final images for this exercise were all taken in the same location using 2 chairs as my point. I feel the shots worked well in relation to the brief. The only thing that made a difference is the fence and trees behind the chairs which span the width of the frame. I think, in the same way that the horizontal and vertical lines affected in the above images, the same effect is occurring in these. There is movement in some of the images that I believe would otherwise be more static.

In the first 4 images below, I have placed them according to the “rules”
Image 1 causes the eye to go from the point (chairs) to the right where there is space for  the eye to move into. The trees on the left give it some balance.
Image 2 I find less balanced and appealing. This may be because we read from left to right and the eyes are being sent to the left. It is also not as balanced, with a bit of a building and clump of trees on the left which are reducing the impact of the point.
Image 3 feels nicely balanced with room for the eyes to move to the left. There is a sense of space given by both the sky and the sand or the arena.
Image 4. I took this additional image which is almost exactly the same as image 3. I was curious to see if the object (drinking trough) on the left, in line with the chairs would change how the image is viewed. It did make a difference and I found my eyes bouncing from the chair to the object and back. This wasn’t the case in the image without the trough.
I think image 3 works best. There is a sense of space and movement with a nice proportion of both sky, sand and trees.
The image that I like the best is image 8! Once the eye has moved from the sky to the darker are of grass and trees there is a hint of something about to happen (expectation) but not enough sand to work out what it is. The chairs are centred, giving an impression that something very organised and regimental might be going on.
The arena is used for dressage practice which by its nature is very organised and regimental!

In the next 5 images, I tried not to think about where I was placing the chairs. It was indeed quite hard not to place the point according to the “rules”
Image 5. The chairs are very close to the bottom edge of the frame and are not as prominent as they are in the previous images. The sky has become the focus.
Image 6. The chairs are close the the right hand edge of the frame which might have been less of a problem if they had been facing to the left. One thing that is happening is that the fence is leading the eye to the point and and back again thus stopping it from leaving the frame.
Images 7 and 8. The chairs are centred on the vertical with one image having them centred on the horizontal as well and in image 8 being close to the bottom of the frame. There is very little movement in image 7, although there is a sense of space in front of the chairs. If it wasn’t for the fence leading the eye along the horizontal I think the image would be quite static.

Bibliography

Niedringhaus, A. (2011) Flag Rebel [Internet] Available from: https://www.anjaniedringhaus.com/image/51988382032 [Accessed 20th May 2019]

Niedringhaus, A. (2013) Afghanistan’s Record Opium Year  [Internet] Available from: https://www.anjaniedringhaus.com/image/67125512817 [Accessed 20th May 2019]