Does it really all come down to what is aesthetically pleasing to the human eye? How do we know what is pleasing? Isn’t that just a little subjective? Oh, this rule of thirds, you say?

Last month I visited Celebration, Florida, which I am amused to report, was an excellent example of a unified and visually balanced little town. It was calming to stroll around, without any wonky vernacular architecture. Who am I kidding? Give me a little variation. a little spice. A little heinous paint job. I’d take New York, LA, or Naples over this any day. So too much unity, too perfect balance isn’t interesting.
Within the frame, within any composition, balance is addressed. There’s the literal weight and visual or implied weight – at least that’s what we are dealing with in 2-d – the implied weight of line/color/shape/etc. In general terms we’ve got symmetrical balance and it’s counterpart asymmetrical balance.