In photography or any visual medium, communication is a two-way street. Not only does visual communication depend on how you convey an image or scene, but it also depends on the viewers' perception or interpretation of the image.
However, the way we make sense of the world is often not as straightforward as it seems. One school of thought called gestalt psychology suggests that our minds see things in their entirety rather than the individual parts that make up the whole. Our minds perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems.
By understanding some principles about how our minds organise a scene, we can use them to our advantage and apply them to our photography.
What is gestalt psychology?
The German word "gestalt" pertains to a unified pattern, form, figure, or structure. The school of gestalt psychology originated in 1910 when Max Wertheimer, a psychologist, observed a series of alternating railroad signal lights.
At that point, he noticed an optical illusion: the blinking lights appear as though they were a single light that travels from one bulb to the next. But in reality, the bulbs are simply turning on and off in rapid succession. In other words, we perceive movement where there is none.
From this observation, Wertheimer concluded that we are inclined to view things as a whole, and he developed a set of principles based on this visual perception.
Gestalt psychology in composition
Suppose we define photography composition as the way elements are arranged within a frame. In that case, we can introduce the set of gestalt principles to our photos and create images that naturally appeal to our viewers' perception.
In this section, we'll go through the five gestalt principles of visual perception that you can use to organise your images.
1. Continuity
According to the principle of continuity, we perceive elements plotted on a line or curve as related to each other and as a group. Whether it's a walking path, a fence line, or a river, our eyes instinctively move in that direction until we see an endpoint or determine that there's nothing significant to see.
The principle of continuity is somewhat similar to a commonly used photography composition technique known as leading lines, which guide our eyes towards a specific point of interest. Likewise, you can use the principle of continuity to your advantage by directing the viewers' eyes from one point to the next within an image.
2. Proximity
The principle of proximity states that when objects are near to each other, they tend to be viewed as a group. Think about it: when we see a crowd of people, we're quick to decipher which cluster of people belong together based on their interaction and physical distance.
Now, I would admit that this principle can be particularly challenging to execute. Whether you are doing a studio shoot or out in the streets, it takes time and considerable thought to organise different subjects within a frame. Still, with patience and a bit of luck, you can use this principle to group subjects based on their physical distance and simplify a scene for viewers to comprehend and digest.
And, if applied well, the principle of proximity can bring about a sense of rhythm and pace to an image based on the placement of groups.
3. Similarity
The principle of similarity describes that we group similar items based on elements like texture, shape, colour, light value, or orientation. Because we intrinsically seek unity within an image, placing objects together that share a common trait can easily help satisfy that inclination.
For instance, you can focus on the dominant orange hue from the early morning or late afternoon sun. Or you can take advantage of the seasons and highlight the colours of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Or maybe you can zoom in on the texture of some rocks by the ocean or leaves along a walking path that appeals to you.
By showcasing how things are alike, it illuminates that feeling of harmony within a scene that we, as viewers, gravitate towards.
4. Closure
The principle of closure suggests that elements that form a closed object will be perceived as a group. Even when there's information missing, our minds will automatically fill in those gaps to make sense of a scene.
Closure is another difficult principle to realise in photography; there aren't many instances where you can apply this principle. What's more, you need a degree of conscious awareness to notice the shapes in a scene.
By far, the most common shape—and the easiest to spot—is a circle. You can use a body of water such as a pond or lake to bring attention to the rest of a scene. As our eyes follow the natural outline of a pond or lake, we're encouraged to take our time to observe the various details of an image.
Not to mention, the natural circumference creates a loop that satisfies our desire for harmony in our worldview.
5. Figure and ground
Compared to the other gestalt principles, the principle of figure and ground is probably the most relatable for photographers.
Essentially, the figure is the one in focus, while the ground serves as the figure's background. When we first pick up a camera, we are taught to find a focal point and give it some "breathing room" or negative space to remove any distraction from the point of focus and create separation from the background.
You can achieve this principle through several ways:
You can frame the subject against a clean background
You can use a narrow depth-of-field to isolate the subject and blur out the background
Or you can use a telephoto lens to zoom in on the subject and eliminate unnecessary distracting elements
In doing so, you'll be able to make your figure stand out and establish contrast between the focal object and the space surrounding it.
The take-home message
Of course, the gestalt principles influence many areas of our lives beyond photography. The school of gestalt psychology brings to light how we observe and interact with the world and our tendency for finding order, meaning and connections between seemingly unrelated objects.
Since photography involves arranging subjects and elements to create order, we can use these five gestalt principles of visual perception as tools to enhance our photography composition and hopefully, create more visually compelling stories.
About the author: Darius Tay is a photographer/visual storyteller who loves capturing meaningful moments and uses photography to tell stories and find beauty in everyday life. If you would like to leave a comment or engage him, feel free to email him at dariustay5@gmail.com.
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