The Center of Attention

Something I found interesting in today's reading, "Reading Images: The Meaning of Composition," was the idea of where an image should be placed on a page. Basically, the most important feature of an image is supposed to be placed in the center of the image.  Surrounding this center image are what is called the margins. This is where secondary images are to be place or other relevant factors to the image.

The center image is what is supposed to draw in the viewers attention. Being the main point of the picture, it is generally larger and more detailed than other objects in the image. Everything within the picture is centered around the idea of that center image.

What is placed in the margins comes into play when thinking about how to support your center image. The main purpose of the margins are to play off of the center image and convey further meaning within a picture about the center image. How an artist wants to use the margins is up to them though.  You can either us a square grid format, or, there is a way to give your margins a more circular form around the center image. Whichever way an artist chooses to format their picture, they must always make sure the images in the margin positively relate to the image in the center.

However, this idea of having a center image with margins somewhat contradicts another form of picture formatting. According to the rule of thirds one should create a grid within their picture and have the main focus lie on one of four main focal points in each quadrant of the image.  This style is suggested because it is said that the human eye is immediately attracted to one of these four points.

Determining which style holds more merit is up to what the artist is trying to show the viewer. In both cases the viewer is being attracted to a main point in the image and is instantly shown what the artist wants to convey. In the end, the main image will end up being the center of attention.  



Discussion Questions to Ponder:

1) Is the center image or rule of thirds style used more professionally?

2) How do you decide the size of your center image compared to your margins?