If you obey all the rules, you'll miss out on some fun

This photo project was to go against the basis of all other projects, and break the rules of composition. 

For the first photo, the entire subject is not in the frame, creating a merger. Another merger happening in this, is the cloud behind the torch that Lady Liberty is holding, creates the illusion of smoke rising out of it. 

In the second photo, the center of focus becomes the railing in the middle, although it's Jen that is really our subject. Another distracting factor are the two doors that fit perfectly in-between the railing. I like the distorted feel of this picture, courtesy of a fisheye lens and positioning myself accordingly. The fact that my subject (Jen) isn't drawing any attention to herself, by putting her head down and hiding her face, tearing the focus away. Yet another composition rule broken. 

In the third picture, well, where is the focus?! Your eyes are drawn to Jen, and back to the glistening light coming from the door and back to Jen. I've also distorted the perception of how far away the door is. Looks far away to me, but is it? I didn't break the rule of thirds, but it's as if I've taken it into account twice. The door, and my subject are both within the rule of third boundaries, but that just splits your focus in two. Snap.

As for the fourth picture, well, rule of thirds went out the door. 

And surely enough, for my last picture. The door is blocking jen, so she's become a merger. She's also centered. Adios to rule of thirds. My hand is another thing that draws your eyes away from Jen, giving you a feel that this just isn't balanced. And the direction of the door and the baseboards, and even the tiles on the floor, and the light, are all drawing your eyes to the doors behind Jen. Au revoir to the composition rule with lines. And in all the chaos of the photo, you still get this decisive moment where we're all left to wonder why all of this is happening, and to question it. And I think that the photos we take should do that.