Mummified frog with dried flower of the Hoya carnosa (left)Uncomfortable angles push against the boundaries of the severe square crop from a 5x4in negative. Photographer: David Präkel.

Technical summary: Sinar F with 150mm Symmar

lens, 1/8sec at f32, Ilford FP4 Plus sheet film,

digital print.

Square formatWith the exception of some reintroduced Polaroid-compatible instant films, the only square format currently available is the 6x6cm image on medium-format roll film. Working with square format has one major advantage – you never have to turn the camera on its side. The disadvantage is the temptation to compose either horizontally or vertically within its confines and to crop when printing. This approach either disregards or misunderstands the quality advantage of the greater film area; the shot might as well have been taken on another format. Square images can, of course, be created later by cropping other formats, but the resulting images may not be as rigorously composed as those formatted to a square in-camera.

Square images are symmetrical about both the horizontal and vertical axes, lending solidity and stability. The resulting quarters are also squares, and the whole form is strongly directed around the centre, which can lack dynamism. The diagonals, however, can be used to dramatic compositional effect.

Where the subject is appropriate, the square can be a rewarding format. In some fields – plant and flower photography, for instance – the square works well, offering big, symmetrically placed and tightly cropped images, although it is a challenge to avoid composing something repetitive and stereotypical.

For the landscape photographer the square can create static images with little tension, irrespective of where the horizon is placed, although with a wide-angle lens and a viewpoint that includes plenty of foreground, the square format can produce images imbued with great strength.

Having parts of the subject radically break through the square frame can add dynamism. Intentional compositional imbalances between contrasting areas, jagged lines and edges or richly curved shapes that extend beyond the visible frame can unsettle the square format and be used to great creative effect.

Palo Verde Tree, from ‘Slab City’ portfolio (above)Slab city is a squatter community in an abandoned marine camp in the Colorado Desert in southeastern California. Martin’s purposeful use of square format brings a still-life sensibility to this ‘horrific and romantic landscape’.Photographer: Claire Martin.

Technical summary: Hassleblad 501CM, Fuji Velvia, graduated neutral density filter for the sky, shot at f2.8.

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