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I'm interested in the effects of aspect ratio on perception in photography, looking for detailed research. Could anyone recommend books, courses, research papers on the subject?

I've looked on google scholar but aspect ratio is a broad subject that has different meanings in different fields, thus I couldn't find anything relevant.

Aspect ratio can be chosen at the time of shooting, but also in post processing (Here is a thread on when to make the choice).

Knowing the theory behind it would help when making the creative decision of choosing a specific aspect ratio.

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  • I don't have a problem with the topicality. My concern is that it's a request-to-search rather than a request for direct information. That generally doesn't work well. – mattdm Jun 01 '16 at 14:44
  • I was thinking that most enthusiasts have read a book or two, or studied the field and have a deeper knowledge than search engines – base Jun 01 '16 at 14:45
  • I think cogsci stack exchange will have that same basic issue: it's a request to create a bibliography, which at best is an open-ended problem. I'd rather see it edited to actually ask the end-goal question, with a note that well-referenced answers are preferred. – mattdm Jun 01 '16 at 17:08
  • Ideally with "on perception" better defined. (What is "perception" in this context, and how are we measuring it?) – mattdm Jun 01 '16 at 17:09
  • If your question is "The affect perception" than no I think its much better left for cog sci to answer. There it is common, or at least more common to discuss eye movement patterns and human perception which seems to be what you're asking about. You just happen to be asking about it in the context of a photo. But really our eyes don't see "photo" vs "illustration" vs "video" for example. So while this can be interesting for a Photographer to learn about and potentially consider in composition, I don't see it really being a Photography question. Just my opinion of course – RyanFromGDSE Jun 01 '16 at 18:15
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    Basile, can you clarify your question a bit? There seems to be confusion over where this applies, if it applies at all in StackExchange. You seem to think the question is a better fit in a photography context. If that is indeed true, then perhaps an update to your question to clarify what it is you are looking for a bit more might help us determine either fit or make the question answerable. – jrista Jun 01 '16 at 22:37
  • I think it applies here as well. There's no requirement for questions to avoid possible overlap with other sites and the answers will have value for photographers given that many cameras offer the ability to change the aspect ratio. – Joanne C Jun 02 '16 at 02:27
  • Clarified it, does it help? – base Jun 02 '16 at 12:52
  • I disagree JoanneC, while it applies here the question is asking for the research and goes as far as saying the couldn't find anything relevant. That's a good indication that this type of scientific research is more relevant to Cognitive Scientists who would have to then do further research before drawing any conclusions that are useful to us as photographers. I will post this and some research as an answer but its not going to be very useful to anyone – RyanFromGDSE Jun 02 '16 at 13:37

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There simply isn't enough research and conclusions to draw any relevant results for "end users" in this case Photographers. Some research on the subject though as requested:

Effects of Aspect-ratio and Size of Photographs upon the Depth Impression and the Depth Perception on their Scenes

Effects of aspect-ratios and sizes of both photographic images and their surrounding frames on the evaluation of their Kansei-impressions

But really you'd be better off with less scientific stuff most likely such as this: The Effect of Choosing and Changing Aspect Ratios in Film.

You'd likely get better and more useful information by contacting the author of one of these documents, a professor of cognitive science, or asking on CogSci.Stackexchange

RyanFromGDSE
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  • Ryan, meta commentary is not appropriate for an answer. If you think this question should be migrated to a different site, please start a question on meta, don't write it in an answer. – Philip Kendall Jun 02 '16 at 14:15
  • @PhilipKendall It is relevant to the answer as I also state the rational - there simply isn't enough research on the subject to draw any sort of useful conclusions. It is not appropriate for you to change the meaning of my answer by removing that. I will compromise with you and reword the first, and only the first, sentence. – RyanFromGDSE Jun 02 '16 at 14:17