The Lines and Curves

Lines are the powerful means to direct your eyes and in to a particular direction. They are the inherent power of our mind when it comes to understanding visual communication. Our mind tries to read the visual of a line or a curve through continuous scan from a point to an end. This is the reason why they are used lavishly on road signs. An inverted ‘U’ with an arrow tip could communicate about the ‘U turn' on the road.

When you were a child, remember what you had ‘drawn or written’ for the first time before learning to write the alphabets….nothing but random lines. A script of a language contains nothing but lines and curves. A line starts from a dot. You could even understand the lines as the continuous dots..! Well, when you try to join four lines you get a square.., which is a well defined shape. Similarly joining three lines gets you a triangle.

What happens when you join both ends of a line? You end up in a circle. A circle is a curved line! A rhythmic pull of a strait lines towards a direction will give you curve. Curves are beautiful. They are the representation of a neat flow in a visual. They make the portraits look elegant and beautiful. An ‘S’ curve in a glamour shot makes it really attractive. That is the reason why we make our portrait subjects to stand or sit in a particular way. 

The flow of the hands and legs in the people shots gives you a feel of imaginary lines and curves. They ultimately tell about the character of the person in the photograph. Lines and curves establish the feel of depth in the landscape and architecture shot. 

Whatever may the subject we shoot, let us look for these imaginary lines and curves. This geometry will lead the eyes of the viewers to the importance of the subject and understand it effectively.

"Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs."
-Ansel Adams