![]() To emphasize the strict geometry of these patterns, shoot straight on, at right angles to the surface, which often results in a flat image that accurately renders the symmetry of circles, rectangles, and triangles. In some photographs geometric patterns are clearly the components of some human-created object or environment – a bridge, shelves holding bottles, a circuit board - while in other cases the image goes completely abstract, as in extreme close-ups where all we see are geometric shapes without the identifiable context of the whole object or environment. Unexpected breaks in the repetition add rhythmic interest. When the progression of shapes is even and unchanging, it might seem relentless, overwhelming, or boring. Because geometric patterns often involve repetition - as in the windows of a skyscraper and the wheels of parked cars – we feel linearity, movement, and a sense of direction. They conjure up ideas about construction, civilization, and accomplishment. ![]() Most of the time we find geometric patterns in human-made things: buildings, tools, machines. People who embrace rationality, logic, and organization often feel drawn to such patterns. Geometric patterns therefore conjure up ideas about orderliness, formality, certainty, strictness, efficiency, predictability, accuracy, precision, and, thanks to Plato’s concept of Ideal Forms, the striving for perfection. You had to learn the very precise mathematical principles embedded in these shapes. To understand the psychological effect of these patterns, think back to geometry class during your school years. Geometric patterns tend to be symmetrical. Geometric patterns show us straight lines, circles, triangles, rectangles, and polygons, as well as variations and combinations of these shapes – such as squares, ellipses, cubes, cylinders, and pyramids. Some people say that abstract patterns are a third type, but I think they’re just a variation of geometric and organic shapes. ![]() I’d like to suggest that all patterns in a photograph fall into two basic categories: geometric and organic. ![]()
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