Leading Lines

Streets are full of lines — pavements, railings, lamp posts, road markings, kerbs, shopfronts, shadows. The job is to use them deliberately. A line that leads the eye towards your subject makes the viewer work harder and stay longer in the frame.

Converging lines are the most powerful: two parallel lines (a road, a colonnade, a row of bollards) appear to meet at a point. Put something interesting at that point.

Lines don't have to be straight. Curved roads, river embankments, staircases — all create flow through the frame. The question is always: where does this line take the eye, and what is there when it arrives?

Watch for: lines that lead out of the frame rather than into it. A line pointing to the bottom-left corner is usually a mistake. Lines that divide the frame in half without purpose — they compete with your subject rather than serve it.

The point: leading lines are compositional architecture. You're not just pointing a camera at a subject, you're building a path for the viewer to follow.