“I frequently leave areas of raw, unprimed canvas unpainted…’Negative’ space has just as active a role as the ‘positive’ painted space. The negative spaces maintain shapes of their own and are not empty.” – Helen Frankenthaler
This week Amy is inviting us to explore the use of Negative Space in our photography. By definition Negative Space is the area surrounding the main subject in a photograph which is left unoccupied. Creating this Space around the subject helps communicate the composition of the photograph and automatically draws the eyes to the subject.
These pictures show how incorporating Negative Space can enhance the overall image. For example, in this first picture notice how your eyes are immediately drawn to the subject, the full moon rising, and then to the ocean and building in the background. (By the way, these first two images are from my archives back in 2005 and show the Super Moon rising.) In all of these pictures it is obvious what the subject is, they were taken on Kiawah Island in SC.
“Negative space is magical – Create it, don’t just fill it up!” – Timothy Samara