JD750 Loc: SoCal

There is a formal definition:
“Photo composition is how a photographer arranges visual elements within their frame.”
Source: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/photo-composition.html

It’s has a deceptively simple definition for a complex topic that has a lot of depth and girth.

It means different things to different people at different stages of artistic development.

Or maybe it just means “put the subject or the horizon on a 1/3 line.”

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Yes, and beauty is a scaling in a framework of acceptance. Composition is more aptly understood by factors negating beauty and intent of the work or composition. Therefore it is more about what not to do in adding power to your work.----ew

srt101fan

But it shouldn't mean different things to different people, should it? The definition you give is pretty clear. What varies, aside from how you arrange the visual elements, is how much control you have over the arrangement. Is it a complex topic? Yes, of course it is, when you consider that the arrangement of "visual elements within the frame" not only includes the physical objects but also light and dark areas and the visual weights of colors. Control over composition includes lens characteristics, position of the photographer with respect to the subject, orientation of the camera, lighting, cropping after the fact, and a whole bunch of others that I haven't thought of.

But, based on comments I've read in a variety of topics, I still think that many folks here, when they mention composition, they're really referring to the content or subject of a photograph, not the arrangement of the visual elements. I tried to delve into this in an earlier topic:
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-635992-1.html