Elements and Principles of Design as Applied to Photography

Knowledge of the Elements and Principles of Design gives you language to analyze a work of visual art, and helps you think about what works and what doesn’t when composing a photograph.

Elements	Principles
Line	Balance
Shape and Form	Gradation
Space	Repetition and Movement
Texture	Contrast
Colour	Unity and Harmony
Value	Dominance and Emphasis
	Variety

Illustrations

Below are examples I found by browsing through my own photographs. I can recommend this exercise as a different way to look at your work! I also stumbled across someone’s site who did the same thing using Andy Goldsworthy’s environmental sculptures: http://www.writedesignonline.com/history-culture/AndyGoldsworthy/overview.htm

Elements
Line More Detailed Examples		Linear marks made with a pen, brush or pixels, or the edge created when two shapes meet.
Shape and Form More Detailed Examples		A shape is a self-contained defined area of geometric or organic form. Positive shapes in Art automatically create negative shapes. Form is created when a 2 dimensional shape is given depth to create a volume.
Space More Detailed Examples		A photo can show vast space or shallow, confined space. The effects of linear and aerial perspective aid in giving a sense of depth or space on a 2-dimensional surface such as a photo.
Colour		Colour may be the element which has the strongest effect on the viewer. The mood and emotional response to a work are mainly communicated through colour and value.
Value More Detailed Examples		Value is the lightness or darkness of a colour or tone. Light tones suggest a playful or sterile mood, while dark tones (low value) suggest mystery and depth.
Texture More Detailed Examples		Texture is the surface quality of an area – rough, smooth, bumpy, soft, hard, glossy etc. Texture can be physical (an actual texture) or visual (implied in an image)
Principles
Balance More Detailed Examples		Balance is a VISUAL weighting of the elements, and can be symmetrical, asymmetrical or radial. Symmetrical balance is achieved across a centre axis, but asymmetrical balance is achieved in several ways. E.g. a large central shape can be balanced by a smaller shape close to the edge. A large light-toned shape can be balanced by a small dark one, since dark objects have much more visual weight.
Repetition and Movement More Detailed Examples		Repetition with variation creates interest. Repetition without variation becomes a pattern. Any repeated element causes the eye to move around the image. Make sure you keep this concept of VISUAL movement separate from movement suggested by subject, or by effects such as motion blur. The artist becomes a conductor and can direct the viewer’s eye in different directions and at different speeds.
Contrast		Contrast is the juxtaposition of opposing elements, such as opposite colours on the colour wheel – red/green, blue/orange etc. Contrast in tone or value will have a big impact – look at the bright mailbox in the previous image jumping out from the contrasting dark background. Contrast in direction – horizontal/vertical – has a startling effect. Strong contrast at the centre of interest in a photo is a good principle to keep in mind. Contrast can also be found in elements such as texture, as in the bumpy frog versus the silky water in this image.
Gradation		Gradation is gradual change in an element. Linear perspective depends on gradations of size and direction. Gradation of colour from warm to cool and tone from light to dark produces aeral perspective. Gradation can add interest and movement to a shape. Gradation from light to dark causes the eye to move along a shape and creates depth. This photo has a feeling of depth created by gradations in value, shade, size and clarity of the repeated elements.
Unity and Harmony		Harmony in an artwork is the visually satisfying effect of combining similar, related elements e.g. adjacent colours on the colour wheel, similar shapes etc. Unity also refers to the visual linking of various elements of the design. When the design elements are related to the idea being expressed in a work, unity and harmony are strongly reinforced.. Disharmony suggests randomness and chaos. This image is unified because the idea of the image, the feeling of an impending storm, is augmented by several elements: the small bright area overwhelmed by the large dark mass, the dominance of the looming cloud, the movement of the eye along the diagonal edges of the cloud, and large space filled by the cloud, whose size is suggested by the perspective of the diminishing repeated trees.
Variety		Variety can mean a design containing many different elements, or a single element repeated with variation, such as a variety of shapes. This image is predominantly about a repeated shape (boulders), but contains variety because each has different form, colour, value, orientation etc
Dominance and Emphasis		When one element stands out in the design it is said to be dominant. Dominance gives a work interest, and counteracts confusion and monotony. Dominance can be applied to more than one element to give further emphasis. The horse is obviously dominant in this image, because of his size and the lack of other objects aside from the tree. The focal point of the image is his eye, emphasized by its contrasting value, the diagonal lines leading to it, and its “rule-of-thirds” position. What’s the first thing you saw in the lower image? Likely the wall that’s facing you, with its strong contrasting windows and frames. That’s another example of dominance.