Leading lines are lines within the scene that carry the eye towards the main subject. Roads, walls, rails, handrails and architectural edges all work, and so do implied lines such as a gaze or a row of objects. Lines that start near the edge of the frame and point towards the subject are especially effective, because the viewer follows them in without effort.

Leading lines do exactly what their name suggests, they lead the viewer’s eye to where the photographer wants them to go, straight to the heart of the story.

A leading line doesn’t have to be straight. A curving line, such as a winding path, a river bend, carries the eye more slowly than a straight one and takes it round the frame before it reaches the subject. The longer journey adds movement and depth, and it can make arriving at the subject feel more rewarding.

Passing Through

by Jeff Kelsey

Two curved concrete walls do the leading. The left-hand wall arcs in from the edge of the frame. The second wall rises from the bottom centre in a long pale curve. If you follow each curve on beyond the end of its wall, it arrives at the walker’s legs. The two arrows meet there from different directions, so a figure that occupies only a sliver of the frame still becomes its clear destination