The hero of the photo

Learning goal

Before pressing the shutter button, you will be able to say the main subject of the photo in a single sentence. You will sort the elements in the frame into helpers that serve the main subject and rivals that compete with it, take the rivals out of the frame or push them into the background, decide how much room to give the main subject in the frame, and notice that in situations such as a crowd or a pattern, the main subject can be not a single object but a single idea.

The question

You look at a photo: a wedding hall, tables, flowers, people dancing, a cake in one corner, a band at the back. Everything is sharp, everything is bright, everything is there. But your eye jumps from one place to another and doesn't rest anywhere. After a few seconds you get bored with the photo and move on.

Where should I look in this photo? The viewer doesn't ask this question out loud; when they can't find the answer, they simply stop looking. In this lesson we will talk about why every photo needs a single, clear main subject, a hero, how to choose that hero before shooting, and what kind of relationship to build between it and the other elements in the frame.

Context

In Lesson 6.1 you saw that the frame is a choice: you take a rectangle from within the world and leave the rest outside. But inside that rectangle you need to make another choice too. Of the elements you have taken in, which one is the hero of the story, and which ones are its surroundings?

In Lesson 2.2 you saw that in a photo the eye goes first to what is bright, sharp, contrasty and human, and that the focal point is built by gathering these weights on the main subject. That lesson described how the eye moves. This lesson goes one step earlier: before sending the eye somewhere, deciding what that place will be. A photographer who doesn't know the hero, however well they manage the weights, sends the viewer to an unclear place.

Simple explanation

How do you choose the main subject?

The easiest way to choose the main subject is to build yourself a sentence before shooting: "This photo is about …" If a single thing fits in the gap, for example "my grandmother's hands" or "the dog waiting under the tree", your main subject is ready. If a list goes into the gap, such as "the wedding, the tables, the people dancing and the cake", it means the photo doesn't have a hero yet. We can call this the one-sentence test, and it can be done in a few seconds before you press the shutter button.

The main subject doesn't always have to be an object. A whole crowd, the repeating windows on a wall, or a pavement shining in the rain can also be the main subject; then the hero isn't a single object but a single idea: "the rush of the crowd", "the rhythm of the windows". What matters is that the photo says a single thing. The problem is many things speaking with the same voice, not whether the hero is big or small.

How do you tell a supporting element from a competing subject?

Once the hero is chosen, you ask every other element in the frame the same question: is this element helping the hero, or competing with it? A supporting element completes the hero's story. In a portrait of a fisherman, the net in their hands, the boat behind them and the end of the pier tell who they are; the eye stops by them but then returns to the fisherman.

A competing subject, on the other hand, steals the gaze from the hero, and once the eye goes to it, it doesn't come back. In the same portrait, a tourist in a red coat passing behind, a second face as bright as the hero, or a big readable sign is a rival. When you notice the rival, you have a few options: move to take it out of the frame, wait for it to leave, leave it in shadow or blur, or move closer to the hero and shrink its share of the frame. Lesson 6.4 will come back to the details of this cleanup.

How much room should the hero get?

The bigger the hero is in the frame, the more clearly it speaks to the viewer. Something beginners often do is leave the main subject as a small part of the frame: a friend photographed from a distance looks tiny on a crowded street. Filling the frame, that is, moving closer to the hero and giving it most of the rectangle, is often the fastest solution.

Filling the frame is a starting point, not a requirement. A small figure standing in a wide landscape can also be a strong story; but then the hero isn't the figure but the relationship between the figure and the empty space, and this choice has to be made knowingly. The same decision matters for skin tone too. Of two people standing side by side in the same light, the face of the one with lighter skin looks brighter, and as you saw in Lesson 2.2, because brightness pulls the gaze, the eye can slide toward it. In a frame where the hero is the person with darker skin, placing them closer to the window, giving them more room in the frame, or leaving the other person in slight shadow keeps the viewer's gaze on the hero.

Visual evidence

Imagine photographing an old woman rolling out flatbread at her stall in a village market twice. First you take the whole stall from further back. The woman is in the middle but small; beside her are three customers waiting in line, above her a big sign written in bright red letters, on the left a pile of orange plastic crates, and in front a cat. The eye goes to the sign, then to the cat, then to the crates; you find the woman only when you look for her. The one-sentence test gives a list: "market, sign, customers, cat, flatbread".

Then you stop and first build the sentence for yourself: "This photo is about the woman's hands rolling out the dough, and her face." Next you move to the side of the stall and get closer. The sign and the crates have stayed outside the frame; the customers are behind, each a pale silhouette in the shade of the tent. The woman's floury hands, the rolling pin and the thinned dough fill the lower half of the frame; her face, in the soft light coming from the open edge of the tent, is bent over the dough. The rolling pin and the flour are supporting elements; the eye stops by them and returns to the woman's hands. The cat is still in the corner, but small and in shadow, not competing with the hero. The same market, the same minute; this time the photo tells the viewer where to look.

Common mistakes

Summary

Every photo needs a single, clear main subject to tell the viewer where to look; this hero can be an object, a face or a single idea. Naming it in a single sentence before shooting, sorting the elements in the frame into supporters and rivals, taking out the rivals and giving the hero enough room keeps the gaze on the right person, especially in frames where different skin tones stand side by side.

Mini assignment

This assignment is the second day of the "30 Photos in 30 Days" project.

1. At home, on the street or at work, find a scene with many elements.
2. Before shooting, complete the sentence "This photo is about …" with a single thing and write it on a piece of paper.
3. Photograph the scene first without changing anything, then after taking out the competing elements and moving closer to the hero.
4. Under the two frames, list the supporting elements and the rivals you took out of the frame.

Check yourself

• Were you able to complete the sentence with a single thing, or did a list come out?
• In the close frame, does the eye go to the hero first?
• Do the supporting elements complete the hero's story, or is one of them still behaving like a rival?

Glossary

Mini quiz

1. If a list goes into the sentence "This photo is about …", what does that mean?

• A) The photo is very successful
• B) The photo doesn't yet have a single, clear main subject
• C) The photo's light is wrong
• D) The photo should be shot vertically

2. In a portrait of a fisherman, what role does the net in their hands play?

• A) A supporting element that completes the fisherman's story
• B) A competing subject that steals the gaze
• C) Off-frame space
• D) A distracting background

3. Can the whole of a crowded square be the main subject?

• A) No, the main subject must always be a single person
• B) No, a crowd is always distracting
• C) Yes, but only if it is shot in black and white
• D) Yes, if the photo tells a single idea such as "the rush of the crowd"

4. Of two people standing side by side in the same light, if the one with darker skin is the hero, what can you do to keep the gaze on them?

• A) Put both at the edge of the frame
• B) Expose the photo darker
• C) Place the hero closer to the light and give them more room in the frame
• D) Move the other person into brighter light

Answers

1. B — If many things go into the sentence, the photo speaks like a list; a sentence that can't be completed with a single thing shows the hero hasn't been chosen.
2. A — The net tells who the fisherman is; the eye stops by it but returns to the fisherman, which is the job of a supporting element.
3. D — The main subject doesn't have to be a single object; if the crowd tells a single idea, it can be the hero itself.
4. C — Light skin looks brighter in the same light and can pull the gaze; moving the hero closer to the light and giving them more room tips the balance in their favor.

Summary card

• Every photo wants a single, clear hero; the hero can also be an idea.
• Before pressing: "This photo is about …"
• A supporting element sends the eye back to the hero; a rival steals it.
• Take the rival out, wait, leave it in shadow, or move closer to the hero.
• Different skin tones side by side: bring the hero closer to the light, give them room.

Bridge to the next lesson

Now you can choose the hero of your photo. But where in the rectangle will you put it? Most people place the main subject right in the middle without thinking. The next lesson asks why the subject shouldn't always be in the middle, and shows how the crossing points of the lines that divide the frame into thirds add movement and balance to a photo.