Rethinking SQUARE: How Framing Creates Intimacy

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We can command a viewer to look, and make portraits more appealing by rethinking how we understand the square. 

Example One: Bride with Mother

What is a square?

At left, the picture of the bride and her Mother has the proportion of a True square, 12 " by 12". These 12 by 12 dimensions are what the camera recorded. For the photo at right, I did not change the crop, but instead changed the proportions in post processing. This added a half inch of height while keeping the same width (12" by 12.5"). 

I call this framing the Optical square. 





From my experience with clients for wedding photography, I know that most brides, not all, prefer the Optical square presentation over the True square. Why is this so?

 True squares can appear wide and broad, due to the visual weight of their top and sides. Perceptually, our brains respond to verticals more than to horizontals. 

Like trees, their shape gives them living dynamic qualities. We perceive that they have a living quality. Also, our perceptions influence what we expect. Visually, we expect that parallel lines will be vertical. Then there is the concept of visual weight. The elements in a photograph have a visual, perceptual weight. Add to this the presence of gravity, or the visual weight of the top and sides of a square, and our perceptions makes us see true squares as fatter and dumpy. This is the last thing a personal wants in a portrait. 

 The optical square proportions overcome this, helps keep our clients smiling, and makes our portraits more intimate.



Example 2 : Male Portrait

One of these views seems more intimate. Why?

The topmost of the two is more intimate for two reasons. The framing commands a viewer to look. The crop spacing places the eyes asymmetrically, in the upper left of the frame. This gives a viewer's gaze a chance to scan and briefly return to rest there.

Also, the crop brings the viewer closer, so we sense a greater intimacy, while the frame edge keeps the eye within the frame as it simultaneously cuts out the large white area of his hat. These two changes bring the viewer emotionally closer to the portrait.








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