The secondary subject should be arranged in a way not to weaken the primary subject. No, it doesn't necessarily follow that the primary subject has to occupy the front or a conspicuously major portion of the image. With a bit of creativity and experience, every photographer can think of a special way to achieve this goal.
Take this photo for example. The primary subject, the lady, is accentuated by being placed at the upper right golden intersection, facing the lens whereas the secondary subjects are side-facing it on the sideline. Also, the primary subject is in focus while the rest are not quite. These compositional strategies effectively bring the viewers' attention to the primary subject even though the secondary subjects are larger in proportion.
Functionally, the secondary subjects help enhance the message in the image that the lady is listening attentively to others on some serious discussion by way of the man's echoing gesture, the diagonal line of her eye sight towards the speaker and the framing by the arm to balance the primary subject and draw attention to her.
Comments