GOBLIN
BY WREN NOIR
7. It’s certainly true to say that the line of sight of your subject has a strong compositional impact, and it’s just as powerful as real lines. We tend to relate to other people using eye contact, and in a portrait shot it’s the first thing we look for. If the sitter is not looking at us but at something else, we follow the line of their gaze as if it was a giant neon arrow. Eyes have a mesmerising effect. When they’re looking at you, you can’t help but look at them. When they’re looking at something else, you want to see what they’re looking at. And when the thing they’re looking at is outside of the frame, it creates tensions that, far from spoiling the shot, adds a whole new dimension when managed in the right way. These virtual lines are so strong that if two people are looking at each other, the effect is multiplied to the extent that it dominates the whole structure of the photograph (e.g. Goblin by Wren Noir Cerise)