My mother used to say “what the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t worry about”. To this day I don’t know what she was on about and why she used to say it to me when I was just a young boy. Moreover, there are plenty of things I worry about without witnessing them first hand. Indeed, I contribute, where I can, to various charities that help poor and disadvantaged people, although I have never met any of these people nor seen the conditions they survive in.

My mother’s statements did, though, serve to try and apply this principle to photography in a weird sort of way and I will see if I can describe my feelings in a sensible way. I don’t hold out much hope …

Photography is all about visual impact. Creating an image that “says” something to the viewer. These utterances can be subtle or “in your face” but a photograph must say something to be deemed acceptable.

Perhaps a smile, a sneer, a chuckle or a tear. A dilapidated building or a new skyscraper. Water, trees, grass, animals. Every picture should tell a story. Every image should at least attempt to make an impact. Somehow.

This means you have to look closely at your compositions. “What the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t worry about” – what your image doesn’t show cannot be consumed by the viewer. And perhaps the best part of your image is hidden and the eyes cannot see them.

Look for something special in each potential image. Actively strive to make your images different – even in small ways. Play with the light and shadows, find a different perspective, add a prop, change facial expressions. Develop a method and style that encourages you to think before you click.

Then you may uncover those things that the eyes, on first glance, misses and perhaps this will bring greater satisfaction into your heart.

My mother, at least, would be proud.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com.

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