Sequence viewing > Aesthetics Index - Resource - © Lloyd Godman

the use of Shapes in visual design - understanding Form and Volume

While we can photograph a range of subjects that might produce a stimulating shape in our images - in real life a visual shape may be quite flat or it might have dimension and volume.

Form is something we associate with a third dimension.

For instance a painting on a canvas lacks depth - a third dimension.   Before the renaissance which brought single point perspective through the use of the camera obscura and other devices, painting lacked realistic perspective. Subjects often appeared flat and lacked form and volume.

By contrast, when we look at a sculpture we expect it to have depth - a third dimension and many sculptors exploit this in the forms they create. When we photograph object it is useful to know something of forms and how they work.