Compare and Contrast

I use to hear this all the time when I was in  my English classes. What the teacher was trying to do was to show me that by show similarities in a subject or by showing contrast you actually emphasized the  subjects that was your focus.  I found this fascinating  that by talking about a elephant and a mouse in the same essay you both emphasized the elephant and  the diminutive nature of the mouse.  Likewise the the use of illustrations or similes and metaphors drove home the point of  finding patterns and focuses the reader to dance to the beat you've played in your words.

Compare

This same lesson can obviously be followed in your photography.  the repeating squares, the shadows and reflective patterns conduct the viewer into a pattern that is readily visible in the picture seen here.  The viewer is encouraged to draw his eye around the picture and  see how things repeat over and over. Note even the  people walking in the picture are a repeating pattern. The choice of black and white is obvious because any other color would detract from the repeating pattern and draw the eye differently.

Contrast

 Often times we are in rush to tell our viewers that "This was so big" or that "this was so magnificent" however  when we look at the picture the magic doesn't follow. What is often times is needed is some contrast.  Contrast allows the viewer to have some choice of what to look at. If our capture was a good one then  they are moved to say the things mentioned above.  This makes the view more visually compelling because we're allowing the viewer to have a choice of what to do.  This is particularly  viable solution  when we show them something familiar with the something they are unfamiliar because they know the one thing they can now ascertain a lot  about the thing they are unaware of. I think this particular shot wants to be taken horizontally due to the shapes in volved. However  it does force the viewer into evaluating both items. I like the fact there there is some matching colors in the foreground and the background. this aids the viewer in  seeing what they should be looking at.

What we want to do is leave a visual trail that the viewer can use to make his own discovery. Compare and contrast are great guides for this path.