The Art of photography

Principles:MakingDesignWork

TheMany-Element

Design

Manyeffective

photographsusemore

thanonesortofdesignstructure.The

photograph

aboveofabusstopinVilla-

hermosa,Mexicoisvisually

organized

withboth

verticalandhorizontalcompo-

nents.Thehorizonlinesetsupa

neat

symmetry betweenlightpartsofthepic-

tureanddark.But

withinthatbalanceis

anotherrelationshipbetweenthedroop-

ingfrondsofthethatched

sunshadein

thebackgroundandtheirvisualecho,

thesunlitleaves

in

the

foreground.

Theeyeisthendrawnacrossthe

frame

bythepolesofthe

sunshade,whichdi-

videthepictureintoframedtableaux.

Theshapesofthepeople,astheyawait

thearrival

oftheirbus,suggestboredom,

impatienceandanticipation.

Time,too,

hasbecome

anelementinthedesign.

Unitingalltheseelements

isthesoft

crosslightingofthesettingsun.Itfalls

acrossthepicture

fromtheright,striking

each

elementinturn

—

gatheringthem

intoaunified

composition.