Composition – Introducing Flow

Tim Parkin

Tim Parkin is a British landscape photographer, writer, and editor best known as the co-founder of On Landscape magazine, where he explores the art and practice of photographing the natural world. His work is thoughtful and carefully crafted, often focusing on subtle details and quiet moments in the landscape rather than dramatic vistas. Alongside his photography and writing, he co-founded the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, serves as a judge for other international competitions. Through all these projects, Parkin has become a respected and influential voice in contemporary landscape photography.

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Last issue I took a look at the concept of balance in composition. The second main concept that I want to cover is the concept of 'flow'. Flow describes the natural directionality in a  composition and it also describes the way the eye will flow around a photograph.

Firstly it may help to cover a few psychological/perceptual ideas that pertain to composition and how our eye moves around a picture. Research has shown that our eyes find it impossible to 'scan' smoothly across an area with no features. In fact our eyes cannot move smoothly at all, they jump from place to place in movements called 'saccades' and when our eye is focussed on one particular point, they can only see within 2 degrees. The only way we can build up a picture of the whole composition is by jumping from one place to another and 'remembering' the details of the whole.