The Photographer's Eye: Graphic Guide

OVERHEAD

Stonehenge excavation, 2008

Overhead is an especially tempting viewpoint, because it is so easy to imagine and yet usually difficult to reach. Standing in front of your subject, you look up and think “bird’s-eye view,” because from above is likely to be a privileged view, not available to most people, and that alone suggests a different image. The search for visual surprise becomes all the more pressing when the subject is well known and and already thoroughly photographed, as here, with Stonehenge, which is one of the UK’s top tourist attractions and brings in a million visitors each year. Overhead gives a plan view, which often holds ...