Exercise: The relationship between points

Moving on from single point photographs I have been looking for photos that have two points and now need to examine the relationship between these points.  Firstly it is worth mentioning just how demanding this particular task has been.  Finding worthwhile shots that have a single distinctive point is hard enough... two points really has been a challenge.  

  1/100, f7.1, 39mm, ISO1250

This first image comes from the inside of Alcatraz prison.  Some walls have very few windows and little natural light penetrates.  This tiny window gave a distinctive rectangle of light on the floor so that the window and the light spot became my two points.  Here, I have kept the points in similar positions relative to the sides of the frame so neither gains an advantage over position.  I feel that the symmetry works especially as the wall is divided half way down the frame as the pale paint finishes.  However, the window has more detail and is the dominant point with the square of light playing a subservient role.

1/350, f9.5, 135mm, ISO800

Here we have an aircraft climbing away past the setting sun.  The sun definitely dominates the image from a size, brightness and colourful point of view.  The flare around the sun also adds to its importance, providing lines leading towards it, as does its position being on two third lines.  The aircraft is a nicely complementing point as it wouldn't be much of an image without it.  Although the sun is important and dominates the aircraft, in the final analysis I think the photo is of an aircraft in the setting sun and not the other way around!

 

1/800, f11.0, 105mm, ISO400

The final pair of points that I have taken has a flaw in that they aren't as far apart as I would have wished. However, the relationship between the points becomes interesting because of that.  I could, of course, have cropped around them but then they would have appeared bigger and would have been in danger of loosing their 'pointedness'!  The reason I find them interesting is that being close they tend to fight for dominance.  The boat wins of course, with its distinctive wake cutting a line across the image it stands out much more than the seagull but the gull has its own place.  Being closer and fairly large in the image helps to promote it and it looks as if it is tracking the boat... perhaps on its way out to discover if there is any fish around.

The final part of this exercise asks us to examine a pair of eyes photographed close up and notice that because of their position and equality neither eye has dominance and they fight for attention.  

1/160, f7.1, 115mm, ISO50

I certainly agree that neither eye has a dominant role and can see that this creates tension within the image.  I find that my own eyes don't rest long on one side of the face before I am glancing to the other side again.  I wonder if this is just a graphical quality or a more basic human trait when one looks at a face?  Perhaps, if I have time, I will try another similar set up with objects rather than a face to confirm our text books assumptions.