5x7 comes very close.
At 09:11 AM 12/28/2002 -0500, you wrote:
If 35mm is so dominant, why don't we see paper readily available in the same
1:1.5 proportions?
frank theriault wrote:
>
> Hi, Keith,
>
> I agree with both you and Dr. Williams.
>
> But, (it must be that I'm a Libra - hey aren't the zodiac signs Greek?)
let me
> play devil's advocate here.
>
> The Golden Ratio, or whatever one chooses to call it, is indeed some
arbitrary
> mathematical ratio that the human mind imposes over certain objects,
and then
> says, "well, isn't that pleasing".
>
> But isn't that the point? It isn't, I suppose, that it's "found in
nature", but
> that the human mind will impose ~it's~ structures (for lack of a better
term) on
> what it finds in the world, and judge certain things to be more
satisfying than
> others..
>
> If that's the way some people want to look at and interpret the world,
so be it.
>
> Personally, I think it's poppycock. And I still think that the
prevalence of
> rectangular photographic paper is due to the overwhelming dominance of
35mm in the
> marketplace over the last 50 years or so.
>
> But, what do I know? <g> As I said before, it's fun to ponder...
>
> -frank
>
> Keith Whaley wrote:
>
> > Regardless of who said it, or who believes it, I propose the so-called
> > Golden Rectangle is more an observational circumstance, hardly any
> > formal "rule" promulgated by anyone.
> > Absent proof of it being someone's "rule" for the wonderfulness of any
> > given composition, that will remain my belief.
> > Yes, I've seen all the books and articles that draw lines over the
> > master's painings and sketches, thereby "proving" the work was
> > purposefully laid down with the Golden Rectangle in mind.
> > I contend it's something that if you're really obscessed with, you can
> > find that pattern almost anywhere in a good composition...
> > Quote any old-time artist's writings that set forth such a plan with
> > respect to the generation of his or her composition, and I'll consider
> > changing my mind. Until then, I'll simply believe it's an observation,
> > overlaid on a pleasing scene.
> >
>
> --
> "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The
pessimist fears
> it is true." -J. Robert
> Oppenheimer
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
