The Art of photography

Principles:MakingDesignWork

TheDominantFeature

Adesignmayorganizetheelementsofa

pictureinanumberofways

—through

balance,proportion,rhythm,formorcol-

or—butoftenonemodeoforganization

willprovemoreeffectivethantheothers.

Inbothofthesepictures,thevisualcom-

ponentsarechieflylinkedinarelation-

shipofdominanceandsubordination.

Theresultineachinstanceisan

image

chargedwithunderlyingtensionbutone

thatalso,liketheworksofafinewatch,

embodiesapowerfulunity.

Thesubjectatleftis

a

loadingdock.It

is,onthefaceofit,anuninspiringsub-

ject;ifitweredepictedfromanotheran-

gleorwithlesscontrast,itwouldprob-

ablyboretheviewer.ButWolfvondem

Busschechosehisvantagepointneara

cornerandusedawide-anglelensto

makethelinesofroofandplatformscon-

vergesharply,revealingthebuildingasa

kindofjigsawpuzzleofirregularpoly-

gons.Hethenemphasizedthepolygons

bysettinghisexposure

so

thattheshad-

owedareaswithinthemcameoutvery

dark.Becausetheshadowundertheroof

isthelargestanddarkestofthepoly-

gons,itisdominant,andalloftheother

polygonshapesaresubordinatetoit.

Inthephotographat right,adifferent

techniqueforgeneratingdominancehas

beenused:Althoughthebackgroundof

the

picture

is

occupied

byaspectacular

fire,redflameonlypartlyobscuredby

cloudsofblackandwhitesmoke,the

viewer'seyecannotresistlookingatthe

ratherordinaryelectricpolebecause

guy

wiresandtransmissionlinesleaddirectly

to

it.Manipulationofposition,lightand

colorreinforcethepole'sdominatingef-

fect:Thepoleisplacedfrontandcen-

terintheframe,sunshinespotlightsthe

crossarmsanddissectsapaleplumeof

smoke

risingfromtheblazebehindit.