In the last podcast, we discussed how how we create meaning from Sensory Data and how that was interpreted into the Golden mean as a composition tool.

This podcast will be a continuation of the discussion of Dynamic Symmetry.  We will  review how design elements are recognized and then interpreted by the human mind to create a sense of story.

The elements of design are intended to “place” or “put together” the elements of composition.  Certain schools stress the value of insight.  Others favor clarity and simplicity.  Still others suggest that understanding takes place as a whole, involving minimal effort.

The Gestalt school emphasizes that individual objects are perceived as organized patterns.   These rules explain how we perceive design elements such as implied lines, points, and shapes.  How the mind integrates these concepts can be used to create balance in one’s composition.  One of the most important of these rules is the law of Closure, about which we spoke in a previous podcast. 

We see the principle of Closure whenever parts of an image suggest a shape and when that shape is then interpreted as providing structure to an image.  Said differently, we easily “recognize” areas composed of defined shapes and patterns. The "area" that we see is, by definition, more structured and cohesive than the group of separate elements.  Triangles are among the most common of implied closure shapes,

The primary theory of Gestalt psychology is the idea of "grouping" or “placement”  There are four factors we use to mentally group elements:

The first is: Proximity, which states that we group elements together depending on the distance they are from one another.  For example, a series of dots will be perceived as a line if they are close enough in a head-to-tail configuration.

The 2nd Gestalt factor is: Similarity, which suggests that we mentally group elements which are  similar in one way or another.

The third, which we spoke about in another podcast is Closure.  In this context, closure suggests we group elements when they complete a pattern.
The last factor is Simplicity,  which postulates that we organize elements as part bigger shapes according to their symmetry, regularity, and smoothness.


Gestalt theory is used as one instructional model used to explain how humans eliminate confusion and to construct recognizable shapes and stories. 

As photographers and retouchers, we want viewers to see implied shapes and patterns in our imagery, but we do so with the intention of slowing down the viewer’s eye.  The irony is that the Gestalt school developed these principles basically to help designers speed the rate of recognition of disparate deign elements.  

The reward for the viewer of a photo comes when some form of recognition occurs.  The Gestalt school further hypothesizes certain responses from our viewers.

They conclude that the mind tends to continue shapes and lines beyond their ending points, as long as the recognized shape stands out from its background. 

This is why it is so important to consider lighting and color being different for the fore- and back-ground.  Personally, I use hue, saturation, color, luminance, and focus to selectively steer the eye to the focal point of an image.

Two additional conclusions are important to photographers from the Gestalt school. 

The mind will fill in a shape or area even if there is inadequate visual data. This is similar to the concept of closure.  And people will interpret images regardless of orientation, rotation, aspect and scale.

In my last video, I spoke about the fact that orienting an image to create an implied horizon can frequently help the viewer “ground” themselves in the image - the first step to recognition and appreciation of the separate elements.

Personally, I like aspects of the Gestalt school, but I am not a blind follower of this movement.  It was quite popular 20 or 30 years ago, and strictly obeying these rules - at least in this retoucher’s opinion - leads to images looking a little dated.   The fundamentals of Gestaltism are key to acceptable composition.  But, today’s style leaders recommend more informality in design than in years past.  I think that’s a good thing, because it encourages us to improve our story telling skills, without having to rely on a limited set of tools

This can be a difficult topic. I recommend that you find literature on Gestalt principles or listen to the last few podcasts again.  The purpose of this review is to suggest an assignment, for you to look how design is used to create greater meaning and interpretation in imagery.  Having a greater appreciation of these concepts will help you see them in our natural environment before, during, and after the release of the shutter.

We should probably stop here for today.  Thanks for listening.

Until we speak again, this is Rick Allen