No, we don’t mean 90° – getting the right angle for your photo changes from situation to situation, and much like timing is a cornerstone of great photography. When you are capturing a scene of the 3D world around us on a medium with a 2D output, it is very easy to have a lot of substance lost in translation. That said, clever angles and the occasional bit of editing can add new depth to your photos that remain unseen with the naked eye.
Smart angles have been an essential element of visual arts ever since we got a few steps beyond carving the walls of caves. Even though photography is more about capturing than creating, the imaginative use of angles and be manipulated into all kinds of illusions or pleasing compositions. Here are 20 photographs that take angle play to the next level.
More often than not, playing around with angles can lead to great comedic effect. Perspectives change our perception of size and distance, making objects of vastly different size and position seemingly interact on the shot. Some of the most common tourist traps around the world are known to be good places to exploit perspective illusions – this is why you get throngs of people doing stupid poses near the leaning tower of Pisa.
Just like how impeccable timing mixed with extreme sports leads to some of the most stunning images, photographing bodies in motion from interesting angles takes the illusions even further – and most of the time, in order to get these legendary shots, you need to make sure both your timing and your angle are perfect. That is no mean feat.
That said, you don’t need an expensive vacation or a world-class sporting event to see these effects in action. Through the lens of a camera, the everyday world is anything but mundane.
