Rule of Odds
In the world of photography, there are certainly plenty of ‘odds’ but the ‘rule of odds’ is something different entirely. The rule suggests that an image is more visually appealing if there are an odd number of subjects. The theory proposes that an even number of elements in a scene is distracting as the viewer is not sure which one to focus his or her attention on. An odd number of elements is seen as more natural and easier on the eye. To be honest, I think there are plenty of cases where this is not the case but it is certainly applicable in certain situations. What if you have four children? How do you decide which one to leave out of the shot? Personally, I’d go by future earning potential.
The photo above is an example of the rule of odds. I deliberately framed the scene to include three arches. I think that two arches would not have worked as well and may have divided the viewer’s attention. It also so happened that there were three people in the scene. This composition also makes use of patterns and ‘frames within a frame’.
In the photo of two gondoliers in Venice above, you will see that I’ve completely ignored the rule of odds. It is true that your attention may shift back and forth between each gondolier. However this is exactly what a conversation between two people is like, a back and forth. For this reason, I think the even number of subjects works in this case.