Formalism is the structure in a photograph. There are seven basic elements in formalism.

Lines – Lines are either straight, curved or a combination of the two. They can also be solid, dashed, interrupted, implied, or psychological. Horizontal lines can indicate distance and vertical lines can indicate height, balance, strength. Diagonal lines convey a more dynamic scene.

Shape – When a line connects to other lines it creates a shape. Shapes are two-dimensional. They can be measured by overall height and width. Shapes are defined by their value e.g. brighter or darker than their surroundings, differences in colour, texture and patterns. There are two different kind of shapes, geometric (circle, square) or organic (tree, bird)

Form – Form takes shape from the two-dimensional and brings it into the three-dimensional, form has overall height, width and depth. there are two different kinds of forms, geometric (sphere, cube) or organic (surroundings). The photograph shows form by capturing the spectrum of tonality from highlights, through the midtones, and into the core shadow on any object.

Texture – texture can be felt with both touch and virtually. Texture in “real life” can be smooth or rough. Other descriptions can be slimy, wet, hard, soft, bumpy, shiny, etc. In a photograph, smooth objects might have reflections or specular highlights. Rough objects might have aggressive areas of light and shadow without reflections.

Colour – Light itself has no perceived colour. But, send light through a prism or a drop of water and we can see that it is comprised of a literal rainbow of colours. Colour has three properties: hue, value, and saturation. Bold and bright colours are known for grabbing our eye. Harmonic colours are colours that compliment each other.

Size – Size in a photograph is relative and can be an illusion. The camera, lens, and print can render large objects small, or small objects large. Even objects familiar to our eyes can be rendered relatively large in a photograph, while things we know to be enormous are rendered small.

Depth – This perception of three-dimensional space is what our eyes experience whenever they are open, and that is what our eyes try to experience when looking at a photograph. Depending on the quality of the surrounding air or atmosphere, distant objects in a photograph will have less clarity and contrast than objects in the foreground. This Ariel perspective is indicative of depth in a photograph.