SPACE

The sky was so blue on this summer afternoon. The point where the top of the trees in our backyard meets the skyline creates a huge negative space. Although this is empty space, the photograph captures the beauty in the sky. It helps the audience to realize that empty space is not our enemy, but beautiful and necessary.

LINE

I took this photo in our backyard as my daughter was jumping on the trampoline. As you can see, the lines are very evident. The lines are straight and form a pattern of tiny squares where the vertical and horizontal lines meet. I thought this was an interesting representation of line because it was a bigger part of a screen that was securing my daughters in the trampoline. The lines also aesthetically hold the photograph together in a symmetrical way.

COLOR

I took this photograph (or selfie) of my youngest daughter and I while my oldest daughter was jumping on the trampoline. I initially took the photograph to capture her beautiful blue eyes. However, once I looked at the photos, the bright red strawberry seemed to draw my attention. Although the blue eyes would create a calming effect, red is a color that allows for a POP. The eye focuses in on the red strawberry. The color evokes excitement about summertime picnics and backyard barbeques.

TEXTURE

This photograph was taken using the portrait mode of my iPhone. It was taken in my kitchen of some flowers that my neighbor has grown. I found texture in so many photos that I took, but this flower photo provides dimension as each row of petals moves inward and outward. I chose a white flower in my vase so that the color would not distract from the fluffy and full texture of each individual petal as they come together to make a full, beautiful flower.

CONTRAST

I chose to use an image that I took inside of the library to represent contrast. There were many pieces of this lamp in the library that caught my attention, so I just looked up and snapped a photo! There are multiple forms of contrast in this photo. The first one I noticed was the contrasting shapes. The ceiling featured a square vent, whereas hanging from this square shape is a sphere lantern that has circular lines around it. I also noticed the values of light and dark were evidence in showing contrast. The lightbulb in comparison to the lantern provides a great visual between dark and light values.

BALANCE

I took this photo of my husband's truck tire while the girls were blowing bubbles. The spokes of the wheels provide a balance of visual weight since the pattern is repeated. The visual balance represented is radial as it has a hub at its center to act as the fulcrum. I also thought this would be a good representation of balance because it not only has visual balance, but it also represents something that balances the weight of vehicle when working with the other 3 wheels on the truck.

MOVEMENT

Our local library overlooks a pond. Every time we visit the library, my daughter insists on visiting the same duck that she sees every time. This photograph represents movement because the viewer's eye can follow the path of the duck swimming in the water. The ripples create a fluid movement within the still frame of the photo. Although the viewer does not get to see where the duck swims next, the viewer can predict the movement based on the pattern already created in the water.

RHYTHM/PATTERN

This bush is in our side yard. I took this photo while my daughters were blowing bubbles because I noticed the pattern of shapes created by the leaves. The colors also represent pattern and rhythm as the inside colors are all a brown-orange and the outside colors are green. This color and shape repetition creates a pattern among the entire bush.

SHAPE/MOVEMENT

The bubbles my daughters were blowing in our driveway allowed so many visual principles to be displayed. It was difficult to see how well the photos were turning out because of the sun, but I was glad to capture these bubbles. The sphere bubbles represent shape. Although the shape is transparent, the viewer can recognize the shape based on the outer edge that is shown in the photo. This photo also represents movement because the viewer is able to follow the path of the bubbles even though some of the bubbles are not fully in the frame of the photo. It is apparent that the bubbles are floating, which creates a calming focus as the movement of the viewer's eye floats into space with the bubbles!

COLOR/CONTRAST

I took this photo when we came inside because all other photos that I wanted to display color and contrast were being used for another principle. This balloon was left over from my daughter's birthday party last weekend. This photograph represents color because the bright purple draws the viewer's eyes to focus in on the object. The purple hue not only has a rich saturation, but allows the viewer to feel soothed when viewing the photo. The photo also represents contrast because the bright purple balloon sitting on the dull, gray, achromatic rug, allows the viewer to focus in on the object at hand as the bright purple hue sits on top of a very neutral color.

SIZE/BALANCE

This image was taken by me during our bubble blowing! I thought it represented a combination of size and balance for several reasons. Shadows are somewhat of an illusion. Based on the location of the sun, my shadow represented the time of day because the size of my long shadow in comparison to my actual size was not accurate, but powerful in the photograph taken. This photo represents balance to me because it provides the viewer with a sense of division, not unity in the balance. The dark shadow in comparison to the brightness surrounding it creates a visual weight to provide a great illustration of both size and balance.

SPACE/PATTERN

This photograph of my daughter was taken as we walked from the library to the pond. It represents both space and pattern. Positive space is represented because Emma is in focus in comparison to the pond in the background. This allows for Emma to take up the positive space in the photo as she seems to jump out to the viewer. This photo also represents pattern because her dress has lines and colors that repeat. Since the space is filled up with a focus on Emma, the combination of colors and lines provide the viewer with a predictability for the remainder of her dress although it goes off the frame in the photo.

PROXIMITY

This photograph represents Gestalt's law of proximity because of the close proximity shown by my daughter and I. We were swinging by the pond near the library and took a photograph. The viewer can sense the close bond and emotional proximity between mother and daughter through this photograph based on the physical proximity of the two subjects.

SIMILARITY

This is in our side yard because our daughters love the play windmills. This represents Gestalt's law of similarity because the shape, pattern, and colors of the toy are predictable and similar. The viewer can group the pieces of the toy together based on their similar shape and color.

CONTINUITY

This photograph of our driveway represents Gestalt's law of continuity because the viewer's eye follows the pattern created by the lines in our driveway. Although the driveway is not seen in its entirety in the photograph, the viewer can sense the continuation of the long path of the driveway.

CLOSURE

This photograph was taken when we came inside for a fun summer snack--donuts! This represents Gestalt's law of closure because despite my daughter's bite out of the donut, the viewer can still imagine the full shape of the donut because of the outer shape of the donut and the familiarity of donut shapes with the viewer.