I chose the photo, “The White Horse” by André Kertész. The photo caught my eye due to the aesthetically pleasing nature of the image. In the lower left hand corner, the titular white horse is positioned behind a solid wall. In the remaining space of the photo is a tree which heavilty obscures a woman walking her pet. However, the pet and the woman have their shadows stretching far out from beneath the tree’s foliage. It is a fairly pedestrian image if you were to look at them all as separate elements; to put these all into the same image, however, just seems very striking to me.
With regards to the composition of the photo, I believe that it is very structurally strong. It follows the rule of thirds, as the horse, the woman with her animal, and their shadows are all well placed off center. The white horse is in the lower left thrid of the photo and, as the photo was framed, the eye is drawn diagonally up and to the right. There is adequate space left for the woman and her pet walking on a path through the picture, and there is even more space available for the eye catching shadows they cast to stretch out as well.
I plan on taking my photo with a solid understanding of the rule of thirds. To simply center the subject of a photo is dull and not particularly the most aesthetically pleasing way to take a photo. If the subject of my photo is in motion, I would make sure to position it in either the upper or lower thirds of the frame. There would be enough negative space ahead of them for there to be a visual path for them to follow. If the subject is not in motion, I would ensure that it would be positioned nicely off-center and in a more diagonal manner if possible, rather than dead center and perfectly horizontal or vertical.
Mary Yanez
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