Andre Kertesz’s The White Horse is a beautiful example of photography done right. From the rule of thirds to the seemly simple composition, this photo really exemplifies a mastery of photography and visual spacial recognition.
From the start, you can see the rule of thirds being used to emphasize the contrasting themes in this photo. The tree takes up one third of the space while the architecture and other artificial figures take up the rest of the space. This tells you that the emphasis is on the cityscape. It’s also interesting to mention that the rule of thirds also is not used to emphasize any of the figures in the photo. Instead, the lack thereof fits into the photo’s message of the contrast between nature and the urban environment. Two of the points of contact are on natural figures (the tree and the bushes) while the other two are on artificial structures (The road and the fence).
There are also many examples of pointing in this photo as well. The most obvious one is the umbrella pointing towards the dog and a lady walking. The branches on the tree also work to point towards those two figures as well. There are even examples on the fence and the roof towards the bottom of the photo. They all point towards the center of the photo to emphasize not only the people walking but the road as well.
The title of the photo, “The White Horse“, is still a fit title. The color contrasts in this photo brings out the whites and dark blacks in this photo. Therefore, the emphasis on the black focuses on the shadows of the dogs while the whites bring out the fence and the white horse. The fence creates a barrier between the two other figures. It adds to the emphasis on the contrasts of nature and the cityscape. A woman in business attire walking a dog (man’s best friend?) is a very city-related activity. On the other side of the fence, the horse is a symbol of the pastoral and rural. However, it’s very out of place in this photo. It even looks like it is on the edge of leaving. The fact that it is not emphasized in the rule of thirds only adds to how out of place it is. There’s a struggle for attention between the woman and the dog and the horse. The careful melding of nature with city seems to add to the argument that both seem to be alive and well.
“The White Horse” uses some aspects of photography like the rule of thirds, but chooses to leave some out in order to create a contrast between the two opposing forces in this photo: nature and man. The focal point in this photo is the white horse, and how it struggles to leave the frame.
