The Use of Line in Photographic Composition

Denver Art. Denver, Colorado, 2012

The appropriate use of line in your photography can have a very positive impact, making your images stronger and more interesting for the viewer.

For our purposes, we could categorize lines into five general types:

1) Vertical lines – These go up and down and can often give the impression of symmetry, order, dignity, height, aggression, solidity, power, grandeur, and/or strength. Converging vertical lines can give a sense of depth and action.

2) Horizontal lines – These go from side to side and can imply support, repose, stability, tranquility, peace, and/or calm.

3) Diagonal lines – Moving diagonally across your image, these lines can give your picture energy, tension, and/or a sense of motion.

4) Organic or Curved  lines – These lines are more complex and may flow and bend and can give your composition a completely different feel…they can be calming, they can imply tension, order, or chaos, or they can even imply a certain beauty or gracefulness. It all depends on the type of line(s) and how they are used. The S curve, for example is sometimes nicknamed the “Line of Grace” or the “Line of Beauty” and you can see it in landscapes (the classic curved footpath, or river), in images of flowers, or even in the human figure.

5) Implied lines – These lines are not obvious and may not actually physically exist–thus the term “implied.” These lines can lead your eye but in a more subtle way…think a portrait of a person looking or gesturing in a certain direction. In this case there is no physical line in your photograph, but this “line of sight or gaze” is implied.

Any of these types of lines can be used as “leading lines”, that is, a line or lines that move the viewer’s eye through the image and to the center of interest. Be careful, though, you don’t want the lines in your photograph to lead the viewer’s eye out of the image!

Here are some examples of the use of line in photographic composition:

In the image below, the vertical lines imply a sense of stability, but then the diagonal lines of the wires and receding poles add a bit of tension and, thus, interest. These diagonals also serve as a leading line to pull the viewer into the image to the foggy horizon on the left side–although you could argue that the eye is actually pulled out of the image to the left, which is not what you want to have happen. There is also a third, organic (curved), horizontal line in the background that adds yet another layer of interest:

Crosses & Bear Mnt in Fog. Boulder, Colorado, 2012

In this next image, we find the picture divided by a diagonal line into two very different sections. On the left, the vertical lines of the flag give a strong sense of stability and boldness, yet the right side of the picture, with its many diagonals, exudes sort of a sense of chaos along with random energy and movement:

Aircraft Hangar & The Flag. Denver, Colorado, 2012

In the abstract below, the horizontal lines give you an extremely strong sense of stability and lack of movement–a double dose, really, as there are two sets of horizontals, created by the blinds and by the lamp itself:

A Lamp. Estes Park, Colorado, 2012

In this last image, you can see a variety of implied lines–the direction of flight of the bird and the jet airliner both imply different diagonal lines…the angle of the wings on the gargoyles, the rooftops, and even the high clouds also imply diagonals…then you have the contrast of the vertical lines of the antennas:

Wings. Barcelona, 2011