Intuition, Not Rules

The so-called “rules” of photographic composition are, in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant and immaterial—nothing but obscurations between the spirit and the revelation of the world of nature and of man . . . It is affirmed here that there are no rules of composition in photography; there are only good photographs! —Ansel Adams In a previous article, as well as in my book, The Interior Landscape, I made the case that so-called “rules of composition,” despite their popularity, in fact are unfounded and unscientific fabrications. While artists working in other media have long abandoned the idea of following rules for visual composition, photographers seem to stubbornly believe and continue to promote their alleged usefulness. Many artists and philosophers of art in recent decades (in some cases centuries!) have dismissed the idea of rules of composition. Still, even if one believes that such rules exist, there still remains this simple question: what purpose do such rules (even if they…