Repetition as a Design Principle in Photography

When a graphic designer uses repetition in a visual design, it is to consciously provide clarity and unity to their design. The repetition provides a consistency that makes clear that individual elements are some kind of organized entity.

Photographers can use the same principle in their photographs. The repeating elements will draw the eye to those elements. The viewer will begin to see those elements as being connected. Even if the repeating elements are separated, the eye will move from element to element, recognizing the linkage between the two. By introducing a repeated element, the photographer is given another tool to guide the viewer through his photograph. The repetition points to the viewer to the real subject of the photograph.

Notice how your eye moves between the circular openings of the bottles, almost ignoring the other visual elements in the photograph. Even though bottles have different forms, the repetition of the circular opening tells you they are linked.

Here in another example the keys of a piano. The recurring vertical lines and rectangular shape of the keys keeps the viewer scanning the image. As one's eye pauses on an individual point of interest, say a speck of dirt, the eye wants to keep moving to the next key. Here it is obvious that the main subject is the relationships between the keys. Using repetition of visual elements throughout the photograph unifies and strengthens the image by tying together otherwise separate parts.