Photography is quite full of rules on pretty much every topic, and they can be a bit of a double-edged sword in that they can guide you and help you to realize technically apt images, but they can also be creatively restrictive. So, what should your relationship with photography rules be? This excellent video essay discusses the topic and how to incorporate rules into your photography in a beneficial way.
Coming to you from Mike Smith, this awesome video essay discusses the topic of photography rules and how to handle them. Smith advocates for thinking of rules less as hard and fast, inviolable things and more as guidelines — heuristics to well-established means of producing sound images. I personally think this is the best way to think about these things. Undoubtedly, most rules in photography have become codified for good reason, as they have been shown repeatedly to lead to apt photos, but on the other hand, sticking to them too strictly will handcuff your creativity by forcing you into narrow and well-traveled roads instead of discovering your unique voice. Certainly, use them, but do not let them dictate your vision. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Smith.
The rules were always guidelines. Nothing in photography is fixed. The only rule one should have is, does it work? With every photograph different both in content and objective it’s almost impossible to have rules that can apply to every situation, BUT, as a starting point they, like the rule of odds or thirds can be helpful in some situations and to give newcomers to photography some support in starting out.
PS. Good video making an important point.