RHYTHM

 

Rhythm is the repetition or alternation of elements, often with defined intervals between them. It can create a sense of movement, and can emphasize pattern and texture. 

 

Visual Rhythm is best explained in a comparison to music. Rhythm in music is the pulse at which the notes move over time. Music always has rhythm because it is a time based medium. Notes or sounds move along with a pulse. These sounds can be of equal distance in time from one another for simple rhythms or they can play against the symmetry of being equal to create interest. Syncopation occurs when the rhythm is set up to work against itself – you hear this in jazz, rock, or African music.

 

These pulses in a visual composition are illustrated visually. Most obvious visual rhythms occur through repetition. Sometimes there is symmetry to this repetition and sometimes objects can be syncopated against other like symmetrical objects. Chaos ads complexity, and Simplicity ads tranquility. Rhythmic elements can themselves be the sole subject of your composition (think of a close-up of zebra stripes or three simple apples in a row).

 

A general rhythm throughout the frame can also be used to establish an overall atmosphere or mood — the regularity of the rhythm may envelop the viewer in feelings of peace or serenity. To take this back to music, think of how soothing we find sounds that are nothing more than rhythm: a heartbeat, water lapping, the gentle and consistent sounds of the ocean. But is that itself an artistic creation? Some might argue the rhythm is just what the metronome would play; it’s not the song itself.

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Rhythm is a very important part of visual composition. Unlike the “rules” needed to be created into visual art , rhythm simply exists. Its in every composition to some degree. However, learning to control the rhythm elements of visual composition is a powerful tool.

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Life is full of patterns. It is all part of our existence, without patterns our lives would be utter chaos. Most patterns people don't recognize or overlook because of their busy, routine-driven, daily lives. In visual composition, photographers create interest by playing with & arranging these visual patterns. In composition design, we alternate the positive elements with ”negative space” to create patterns, which we then repeat and vary to create rhythm.

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We create rhythm through three patters:

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1. repetition which creates patterns through predictability

2. alternation which creates patterns through contrasting pairs (thick/thin, dark/light)

3. gradation which creates patterns through a progression of regular steps (like items getting bigger or smaller)

 

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Two techniques come into practice while working with rhythm:

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• Emphasizing Pattern: emphasizing a pattern can accentuate a sense of size and expansion. This will make a stronger rhythm. The idea is to zoom in onto the pattern and fill the frame with it. Emphasized pattern can include faces amidst a crowd, a line of homogeneous plants, bricks of a wall, rows of trees in a forest, buildings lining a street, etc

• Breaking Pattern: this is all about finding an object that disrupts the continuous flow of a pattern. This creates an irregular rhythm and can spark interest in the subject. It can be an object that is in clear contrast with the rest of the objects; be it in shape, color, focus, or even texture. You might need to handle your composition with extra care while trying to render a broken pattern, and the rule of thirds can come in handy in such situations. For example, you can place your "odd" object along one of the thirds or on one of their intersecting points. You can also play with your depth of field. Have the contrasting item in sharp focus and the items around it fading slowly into the out-of-focus. Broken patterns can be found naturally, or some situations can be manipulated to disrupt readily existing patterns.

 

 

The FOUR (4) different kinds of Rhythm:

 

1. Regular: A regular rhythm occurs when the intervals between the elements, and often the elements themselves, are similar in size or length. This involves the same or similar elements repeating at even and predictable intervals. Think of equally spaced light posts extending from left to right across the frame, or the alternating squares on a checkerboard, the slats of a crib, or a series of windows on the side of a city apartment building. In music, this might be the same key played once every 1/4 second on the piano

2. Flowing: A flowing rhythm gives a sense of movement, and is often more organic in nature. The organic and natural patterns are used to create a feeling of movement. This involves a smoother, continuous progression of elements that rise and fall or weave across the composition. This uses more curvy, wavy, or rolling lines that extend and often repeat throughout the composition. This often literally use water, like with a tall waterfall, or such as a mountain stream winding and flowing out onto a plain, or waves rolling up onto the beach…And any subjects that emulate flowing water like “flowing” hair, or “waves” of softly blowing grasses, or “rolling” hills, or stars “sparkling” in the cosmos, or “waves” of wind-swept sand dunes, a snake’s “winding” body, or “rolling” stripes on a tiger or zebra, or the “flow“ of a dancer’s graceful extensions, or lazy “floating” clouds in the sky.

3. Progressive: A progressive rhythm shows a sequence of elements that change slightly and predictably with each iteration as perspective changes. With a change in perspective, the repeated elements appear to gradually become smaller and smaller as they progress towards a vanishing point, or elements can appear to gradually appear larger & larger at they radiate out from a central point.  Examples: Lamp posts lining a pier as it stretches out over the ocean;  Ripples on water, with concentric circles appearing larger & larger as they extend outward

4. Irregular: An irregular rhythm occurs when intervals between elements, or the elements themselves, are not similar and repetition varies or is broken. It might have parts that are regular, progressive, or flowing (or all 3). Interest is created by an emphasis or contrast of an element that interrupt the pattern at times. This could be a contrasting shape or color or drastically changing the size of one element. This sets an element apart from the pattern and momentarily breaks the rhythm. It can be used to control how the eye flows through the rhythm. More emphasis on a single element makes the eye pause on it before continuing. However, Too much irregular rhythm can lead to discordance and chaos

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