It is often said that a minimalist photograph has greater impact. Does this assertion have any foundation in science? At the cafe scientifique in Leamington Spa last night film maker Huw Bowen outlined some interesting aspects of human perception that casts some light on these questions. What do we see when we look at an image? How much can we see?
Drawing on an analogy with memorising a telephone number Huw suggested that we see about five things at once. More information in a photograph can make it more difficult to interpret. He suggested that meaning could be enhanced by using juxtaposition. An example of this is the montage used by Kuleshov in his experiments in Russia in 1918. Such effects can be used to manipulate emotions as illustrated below:
