Composition and layout

Member lesson

The crop

Lesson 4 of 27 in Composition and layout.

How To Crop the Perfect Composition · Emma Colbert Art
Lesson

The most famous person on the poster has no head.

about the placeabout the person
One image cropped two ways, changing what it is about.
A full figure in black gloves and a striped scarf, and beside it a tight crop showing only the shoulders, scarf and gloves, with the head cut off.
A full portrait is cropped down to black gloves and a striped scarf, and you still know who it is. A hard crop trusts the viewer to recognise the rest.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Lautrec cut off the biggest star in Paris above the shoulders on his poster. How do viewers still know who she is?

    • Her name is printed in large letters beside her
    • Her face appears again in a small inset
    • The performer in the foreground points to her
    • They identify her by her black gloves
  2. Question 2, locked

    A brand crops its hero image so tightly that only a corner of its famous product shows. What is that crop saying to the audience?

    • You recognise this
    • Look closer to find out
    • This product is new
    • The details matter most
  3. Question 3, locked

    You cut away the half of your best photograph that explains it, and what is left collapses. What does the lesson say you have learned?

    • The photograph was weak and should be replaced
    • The image depends on context to make sense
    • The crop was too gentle and needs to go further
    • The explanation was never doing any of the work

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