Principles of Design Through Photography

By Deepak John Mathew

In an age of digital photography and advanced technology, viewers often neglect a photograph’s composition and aesthetic value in favour of its informative value. Principles of Design Through Photography is an investigation of how a particular principle of design - rhythm, harmony, contrast, balance and symmetry - is used in a composition, and how that composition will, in turn, help the photographer convey an effective message to the viewer.
Each composition aims to give a visual experience of the principle of design that helps to better perceive a photograph. Each principle of design has been isolated as much as possible so that it can be understood and used in combination with other design elements. This book is an introduction to the way in which photographs can be read and appreciated, and will delight students of photography, aesthetes and those who are curious about design and photography.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wisdom Tree Publishers
• Release date: Feb 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9788183282277

Deepak John Mathew

Dr Deepak John Mathew heads the Photography Design Department at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. He is a professional photographer, painter, printmaker and curator.

Book preview

In an age of digital photography and advanced technology, viewers often neglect a photograph’s composition and aesthetic value in favour of its informative value. Principles of Design Through Photography is an investigation of how a particular principle of design — rhythm, harmony, contrast, balance and symmetry — is used in a composition, and how that composition will, in turn, help the photographer convey an effective message to the viewer.

Each composition aims to give a visual experience of the principle of design that helps to better perceive a photograph. Each principle of design has been isolated as much as possible so that it can be understood and used in combination with other design elements. This book is an introduction to the way in which photographs can be read and appreciated, and will delight students of photography, aesthetes and those who are curious about design and photography.

© Deepak John Mathew, 2010

First published 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise — without the prior permission of the author and the publisher.

ISBN 978-81-8328-155-3

Published by

Wisdom Tree,

4779/23, Ansari Road,

Darya Ganj, New Delhi-2

Ph.: 23247966/67/68

[e-mail]

in association with

National Institute of Design (NID),

Paldi, Ahmedabad-380 007 INDIA

www.nid.edu

Printed in India at Print Perfect

Front cover: Reflection of the NID building.

Back cover: Camera on a tripod, IIM campus, Ahmedabad.

For my parents,

Mathew and Mary

Preface

Introduction

Principles of Design

Rhythm

Harmony

Contrast

Balance

Symmetry

PREFACE

This book is written for people who are learning and trying to understand photography, as well as those who appreciate the aesthetics of photographs. It is an introduction to the way in which photographs can be read and appreciated, an interest that grew out of my experience teaching design students, mostly first time camera handlers, to capture images during a basic photography course. This book is a point of departure for further study, and is an introduction to the principles of design through photography. It aims to provoke discussion and is designed to look deeply into various aspects of composition.

The treatment is systematic and traditional since I find that theoretical principles are better explained through photographs as they then become visually alive. Readers who are familiar with the medium and with design might need additional theoretical readings. Here, at an introductory level, readers first need to get an overall understanding of the kind of principles in a composition which guide a viewer through the image.

An investigation of how a particular principle of design is used in a composition will help the photographer understand how effectively the message is conveyed to the viewer. Each composition aims to give a visual experience of the principle of design that helps to better perceive a photograph. All images do not use only one principle of design. In many cases, a combination of many convey the message better.

In this book, I have tried to isolate each principle of design as much as possible so that it can be better understood and used in combination with others. When one principle of design is used in combination with another, the dominating principle will determine the final message and the other will act as its supporting element.

Photography is the art of making photographs. We may concentrate on the photographer, the photographic process or the photograph itself. The subject matter of the photograph is usually something identifiable. We have become so accustomed to looking at what the photograph depicts