The Human Element

This section is going to be mostly food for thought. Many photographs are perfectly successful by creating something that's simply interesting to look at. However, a photo can often be taken a step further by adding a human element and/or placing the viewer into the frame. There are a few ways about going about this, and a few reasons why this adds to a composition.

First-off, people are interested in seeing other people. In our basic instincts we seek out other people. We're social beings. It's only natural that a photograph of a person would grab our interest more than a photo without a person in it. If it's someone they know, even better. This is why portrait photographers have business. There's more too it though. A personality portrait of someone from a vastly different lifestyle can often be interesting as well. Personality portraits give a good sense of the subject's character by placing them in their defined environment, or capturing a facial expression or action that is typical of who they are.

Adding a human element can add to an image even if that element is not the subject. A photo of a backpack is bland, but if that backpack is on a person's back, now it's interesting. The viewer will then put themselves in the backpacker's shoes as if they're trying on the backpack themselves. Omitting the head will sometimes enhance this effect by making the human element anonymous. This is the same reason that most clothing stores use mannequins. If you look at commercials, even normal objects will be shown with a human element. The product will be held or demonstrated to make the commercial more personal. This technique is not just useful for marketing. A photograph of a place will usually be more interesting if there is a person somewhere in the frame.

Adding the human element serves another purpose. It places the viewer in the frame, but also gives a sense of scale. We are very aware as to the size and dimensions of a normal human body. By showing an object in someone's hand, we get a sense of how big it is. Also, showing someone walking by a large structure will hit home just how large the structure is. In the example below, the enormity of the bridge is enhanced by the man walking along it at the very bottom, but also by the way the bridge dominates the frame. The bridge fills the frame so much that the man is pushed to the very bottom and side, and still the bridge goes beyond the frame.

There is one other way to place the viewer in the frame that does not involve adding a human element. That is to get close to your subject. This is particularly effective if you fill the frame using a lens 50mm or wider (35mm or wide on APS-C format). This is even more true with action photos. At that point, the viewer is "eating" the action as if they're right there in the middle of it. Guess what? That means YOU have to be right there in the middle of it to get the shot. Be bold. Be daring. Think like a photojournalist and get as close as is comfortable, and then take a few steps more. This is where risk comes into play, but like all things, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.