iCha, Boxes and Proportions…

iCha has been playing with boxes, cropping and using the proportions of the image to enhance the image. (Video) This is something that I noticed when my father gave me a Canon G12 which had a 1:1 format in camera. I wanted to reply to iCha and share my thoughts on the subject.

Echoes of Medium Format

The only time I was confronted with square or near square was with the Mamiya medium format images my father took. The shapes of this format over 35mm film is quite distinctive. It has an elegance, partially perhaps because of the association with the format. Then again perhaps there is more to it.

Uniformity with the Rule of thirds

Perhaps the points being exactly the same distance from the horizontal and the vertical plays a role in the ease by which we accept it.

Perhaps the lack of vertical / horizontal guidance makes the viewer think more about the image.  When an image does not have the photographers choice of portrait or landscape the image must be viewed and considered.

Perhaps it is best used on only some types of images.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…

Having been challenged to think about it, I think I will!

Alex.,