UPDATE: A huge apology to Matt Brandon and Gavin Gough for screwing up the credits for this article! I've corrected the references and links below.
ORIGINAL POST: Along with David DuChemin, Chris Orwig, and Gavin Gough, Matt Brandon is a favorite photographer of mine. His photos, like David's, Chris' and Gavin's, elicit emotional responses, provide a look into other worlds and cultures, and challenge our sense and understanding of what photography should be. Matt has a great post on the power of the photo subject's eyes and line of sight:
"There is one underrated and often under utilized aspect that I would like to focus on with today’s post and that is the use of eye-lines or simply put, the line of sight. The face is one of the strongest compositional elements in an image. So much visual weight is given to the human face that it trumps just about everything else in an image. And so, when the human face is looking at an object that line of sight becomes a strong element of design. This line of sight is so powerful it has complete control over the viewer and makes or to put it stronger, forces the viewer follow through to the end of this implied line."
There are so many posed portraits and postcard shots made today that just this one powerful photographic element could turn upside down the quality of casual photos – in a positive way!
I challenge you to focus on the eyes – plan for the eyes of your subjects – be intentional about the eyes!
Enjoy.
I’m always happy to take credit for his impressive photos but think you have me confused with my good friend Matt Brandon at http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com. Matt lives in Malaysia and I live in Thailand but we’re happy to be interchangeable 😉
Coincidentally, Matt and I are jointly leading a photography tour to the Kumbh Mela festival in India this year where participants will get the opportunity to photograph this amazing spectacle whilst learning skills and techniques like the one described above.
Check out details of the tour on Matt’s site or at http://www.gavingough.com.
Cheers!
Gavin and Matt, huge apologies! I guess this is what happens when the brain, the eyes and the hands don’t get in sync. Funny, I was reading Matt’s article, perusing Gavin’s site and penning this post all around the same time. What a big lesson for me of the importance of proofreading!
Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
Again, my apologies!