Composition - Is there such a thing as left- or right handedness?

[labgolden]

<p>Looking at photos I took from a recent backpack trip, I was startled to notice that I have a composition "bias" -- in other words, if I place an object in the foreground it is almost always on the LEFT side; a diagonal almost always runs LEFT to right; curves start on the LEFT then run right; higher objects are almost always place on the LEFT; people are almost always on the LEFT. I went back and looked at photos from other shoots and noticed (to my horror!) the same tendency.<br>

Is there a specific term for this? Is this something linked to whether one is right- or left handed? Is this a common tendency?<br>

Thanks in advance for any comments.</p>

<p> </p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Interesting question. I've noticed the same thing in a lot of my shots, especially old barns and buildings (I'm a righty). I wonder if it's a tendency to compose that way in the viewfinder, or because we happen to be most attracted to scenes with that particular composition? When I noticed this happening, I started making a deliberate effort to change the composition in some shots. Any psychologists out there who might have a theory?</p>

[steve_levine]

<p>Years ago, I worked for a low budget wedding shooter who insisted that everything be centered and symmetrical.(And all eyes looking at the lens, ugh). After we parted ways, it took me 3 seasons to break the habit. Everyone "balances" their composition one way or another. I wouldn't lose sleep over this.<br /> <br /> Analyzing this is a better topic for a psychology forum.</p>

<p>In the future make an effort to avoid shooting that way while you are peering through the VF.</p>

[dbcooper]

<p>Yes, there is. I read about this a number of years ago (wish I could remember the particulars about the study). Seems there's an individual preference. Can't remember if it had anything to do with the direction of reading in their native language (L-R or R-L).</p>

<p>Rats! Now I'll be thinking about it when I go out and shoot this weekend. Say, when you play golf, do you breathe in or out on your backswing? ;)</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>My sense of narrative seems to frequently involve left-to-right action, body language, or staging. I suspect this has far more to do with the written documents I've spent a lifetime reading than the fact that I'm right handed or left-eye dominant. The right is the future, the left is the past (at least, in English, on paper!). That flow is set in very early on, mentally. It's also the direction we associate with play/fast-forward, etc.</p>

[vrankin]

<p>I've read that we who are used to reading and following timelines from left to right often tend to compose our receding lines in that direction.</p>

[labgolden]

<p>Hello again, and thank you for the comments and observations. To force myself to look at things with a different composition, during editing I will sometimes rotate photos horizontally, and if it doesn't make a critical difference, I'll sometimes leave the edited version that way. Thank you again.</p>

[drjoder]

<p>Are there any native Arabic speakers out there who notice a right to left bias (due to reading in this direction) in their photography?</p>

[andylynn]

<p>Interesting that you ask, Daniel. I remember a study a while back where a drawing was shown to a bunch of people, who were asked what was depicted. There was a hill on one side with some rich looking people on it and a valley on the other with some poor looking people (I forget which side was which, but let's say the hill was on the right). It looked like a confrontation was starting. The people whose native language is written left to right said the people in the valley were rebelling against the lords on the hill, and the people whose native languages were right to left said the people on the hill were going to attack of repress the people in the valley.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

I read long ago that since most people read from left to right, the flow of a photo should be from top left to bottom right. A taller person should be on the left, the main subject should be on the left, etc. I have often flipped a negative to achieve that and to my mind it does look better that way.

[chris_waller]

<p>Most definitely. If I shoot portraits I almost always have the subject on the left looking right. That applies to many other pictures I take: the main subject is usually on the left and the picuture 'reads' left to right. I'm right handed, but left-eye dominant.</p>

[paul_de_ley]

<p>Not a photography source but perhaps relevant or at least interesting: some of the almost scarily serious literature on compositional and subconscious biases in comic strips (eg Serge Tisseron in "Tintin chez le Psychanalyste") claims that on average a character drawn on the left side as walking towards the right is usually headed for some form of nasty surprise in the subsequent panels, whereas a person on the right side moving or looking towards the left is usually headed for a positive event.</p>

<p>A few of these analyses then go even more over the deep end & state their suspicions that this reflects political bias (eg Tintin's author Hergé was definitely no lefty as far as politics were concerned). The latter seems really far-fetched but it's an interesting thought that one orientation might bring more tension/suspense to an image than its mirror counterpart. Perhaps that is linked more with direction of writing than political brainwashing efforts, but that would be difficult to prove or disprove in comics because of the absence of any analyses of strips drawn by native right-to-left readers & writers.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>Once you are aware of any bias you can either go with it or against it as you please.</p>

[david_r_lewis]

<p>Richard,<br>

Everyone who has posted before me is virtually correct. I am right handed, but my left eye is my dominant focusing eye. For me, <strong>my</strong> basic compositional thoughts are since the majority of Europeans and Americans read left to right, top to bottom, I want the heighth on the right as I look at the image. To <strong>me</strong> this is especially important in basic family groups. With extended families, I usually put the patriarch in the center with all others either cascading down or the inverted "V" arrangement. Is this written in stone? No way because for every " rule ", there is a good reason to break it. One other thing I have noticed, is that if I watch a lot of television the night before a session, I usually end up with more horizontal images than vertical. You figure that one out.<br>

Warmest regards,<br>

David R. Lewis</p>

[joshuasigar]

<p>I browsed photos I took while hiking; I won't say that I have the same situation. Whether the (main) focus of the subject is on the left or on the right, it's "dictated" by the scene. When the hikers walk toward the left frame, most of the time, I will place the hikers on the right portion of the frame. It also depends on what's on the left and right of the hikers--which one is worth including. The same is true for any scenes that I've photographed.</p>

[steven_f1]

<p>I am left handed and I haven't noticed any pattern. But I can say the subject can strongly influence the framing. I took picture once of a friend in Yosemite. To get her in the shot she had to be in the right There was no way to get the shot with her on the left. I would guess that if you pay a lot of attention to your composition you are probably more likely to have a more random composition. If you don't (just making snap shots) your own personal preferences would dominate. </p>

<p>As for left to right and right to left reading having a influence, I have no idea if it is true. However I do know that in Asia that some languages are written bottom to top right to left while in the west it is top to bottom left to right. I would be interesting to hear from other photographers from Asia.</p>

[dillan k]

<p>D. B. Cooper is onto something, I believe. I almost always initially compose my photos from left to right. I want to read a scene like it is a page of a book. That's natural for me, I suppose. I have been a voracious reader my entire life. I have been purposely been trying to break the habit, though. I have found use for photos composed the opposite way: wallpaper for my computer. The icons are arranged to the left, so my subjects kept getting covered up! I can always flip the image in Photoshop, but I started to look for compositions which 'read' the other way.</p>

<p>Interesting question. I thought maybe I was unnaturally affected by this, since I have spent so much of my life with my nose in a book! I see that others here agree with me, so maybe I am not so weird after all.</p>