repetition in photography
Repetition is a design element used in photography to emphasize importance.
There are a few more really cool things repetition does for us!
Perspective
Repetition is used in photography to show depth in the picture.
When you are looking at a picture, it is a two dimensional object. It just has height (top to bottom) and width (side to side). It’s not three dimensional since it doesn’t take up space front to back, or come out at you. Think about a circle and a sphere. The circle is a two dimensional shape and a sphere is three dimensional, taking up space with height, width AND depth.
Because a picture is only two dimensional, artists and photographers have been using tricks for yeeeeears to make them appear as though they are three dimensional. This makes the picture or art more believable. And makes you feel like you’re really there!
This is called perspective.
Repetition is a snazzy trick that painters and photographers use to show perspective.
If there is an object that you know is about the same size repeated over and over, lined up front to back, it appears as though there is depth to the picture.
Check out these pictures to see what I mean.
Mirroring
Mirroring is a special trick too! It’s used in photography in a few different ways.
Mirroring can be two people, side by side doing the same thing. It could be the repetition of an object, but flipped, like the first photo above.
Mirroring could also be REFLECTION. Objects reflected in a mirror or water.
Remember that repetition doesn’t have to be one item reflected multiple times, it can be reflected, repeating just once.
Here are a few examples.
Can you see any other repetition used in these photos along with mirroring?
Repetition of shape or color?
Can you find any photos that use repetition to show perspective?
Combining what you know of shape and repetition
This photo shows repetition of shapes. How many rectangles do you see?
Do you see the repetition of the rectangle in the sky?
Do you also see the use of negative space?
What about color? Is color repeated in this photo?
