Interesting photographs are always the ones depicting things we are not used to seeing every day. By that, I mean anything that departs from mimicking our normal eye vision. We see at a roughly 43mm equivalent with approximately a 3:2 aspect ratio. We don’t see the world in a square, and that is precisely why I like to shoot and view photographs in a 1:1 format..it breaks away from our usual daily perspective.

This is also why photographs shot at eye level are often less interesting; simply bringing your camera lower will create a much more compelling view of the same subject.

Just like a different lens brings us a different vision and framing, a different ratio means a different way of working too. For me, 3:2 is suitable for journalistic documentary, as you need to capture the story better, and that is what is acceptable at most news agencies. Meanwhile, 4:3 is best for portraits, and 1:1 is just artsy to my eyes. If I’m bored or stuck, a change of lens or aspect ratio can spark a new way of shooting. Try it yourself.

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