In the psychology of Gestalt as it applies to photography, and the third class I teach at the BPSOP, the main objective in creating memorable images is to make the viewer an active part of your thought process in producing photos that will stand the test of time. It’s also what I talk about in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct all over the place.
One of the six concepts that I teach is called Continuance. Part of the definition is that the viewer will have an instinctive tendency to follow a path, river, beach tree line, etc. These compositional elements provide a way to move the viewer across the frame.
The other part of Continuance is in the fact that the viewer will want to know what the subject is looking at or pointing at, especially if that person is looking or pointing out of the frame. 
When you do place the person close to the edge of the frame it also creates Visual Tension. In other words, it’s the feeling that the subject will ‘collide’ with the frame.
These are ways to keep the viewer around looking at our photos. I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly what I want him or her to do.
Visit my website at www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
