The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge published the photo of their Christmas Card for this
year.
And you can imagine that such an anticipated depiction of their family has a lot of symbols
and details hidden in plain sight.
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Every time we look at a picture, our mind reads it in a split second.
But that reading has very specific stages that finally spark the feeling that the photo
transmits.
And we've already discussed how faces will always be at the top of our brain's attention.
Our brain will simply go straight to them first, to read the emotions.
When you take a closer look at all of them, the first thing you notice is that we have
almost the complete spectrum of smiles.
From Charlotte's serene, closed smile, to Catherine's joyful one.
This is the first detail that in itself, makes this photo interesting.
It's totally the opposite when you take a picture and everyone has the exact same "say
cheese" smile.
In this case, the photographer made sure to let the different smiles shine for their different
personalities.
This is extremely difficult to achieve, all at the same time.
But the next thing we notice is the way they are arranged in the picture.
As a rule of thumb, you could imagine the frame divided into four quadrants.
And since we read from left to right, we will always give more attention to the upper right
corner.
This happens automatically in our brains.
So, following that rule, both Catherine and George are placed in the quadrant that grabs
the most attention, and William, Charlotte and Louis are placed in the two quadrants
that have medium attention.
By the way, by definition, the lower left quadrant is the one that pulls the least attention,
and in this case there is no face in there.
So, even if they look just like a natural formed group, they were carefully balanced
in the picture, using this rule.
And that's the reason why Charlotte and Louis are dressed in blue tones.
Even if they are in quadrants that do not draw much attention, just the fact that they
are dressed in higher contrast tones, draws more attention to them and makes a dynamic
balance.
See, for example, what happens if we zoom in on William, Catherine and George.
We see a very limited PAlette of greens and browns.
When we zoom out, then Charlote and Louis' dress color balance the general PAlette.
And speaking of the PAlette, I'm sure it's not a coincidence that they are wearing blues
and greens, colors that are usually related to nature, and it must be related to the Duke
and Duchess' environmental initiatives.
Now, speaking of William and Catherine, it's interesting that they are sitting in such
a way that their heads are at the exact same height.
Yeah, I'm sure some are going to claim that they are copying the Sussexes' Time Magazine
cover, but in this case, William's head is NOT shrunk, and he doesn't look like a curious
hairdresser.
But it's interesting that both Catherine and William are at the same level, and that's
depicting true equality between them.
At the same time they both share the same loving gesture, her hand on his knee and his
hand on her thigh.
Again, that's also a symbol of balance between them.
And I've mentioned in other times that clues like the fact that Catherine has her arm OVER
William's is at the same time a protective and ownership gesture.
In fact, and I think this is the most relevant reading of this picture, Catherine is sitting
in a way that she's the visual center of the photo.
Not only she's got a dress of a darker tone and her background is lighter than everyone
else.
She's also located in that high interest quadrant, and her hair gives contrast to her face, so
it draws even more attention.
She's also sitting quite upright, staring straight into the camera, while William is
tilting his head a bit.
So, William is the heir to the throne, and he will be King one day, but this picture
is how they manage to project the underlying message of true women empowerment.
When you first saw this photo, you perceived it in a split second but maybe you didn't
know how to put it in words.
Using composition to create a visual weight on Catherine as the equal head of the family,
truly depicts that dynamic balance between them.
I can't help but notice that there is a very subtle nod to future generations here.
And in fact it was one of the first things I saw in this picture.
If you pay attention to the outlines of their bodies, you'll notice that George has a bit
more space.
He's not separated by any means, he's still integrated to the group, but just for Catherine's
arm, that she's reaching out to him, you notice that he's a bit more independent, if you will.
In a visual way.
A bit different with William's hand that is barely visible on Charlotte's back, being
her closer to him.
But George is the firstborn, and he's in a position of being more independent in respect
to the group.
That independence, represented through a bit more space, is often related to having a responsibility
as that new, fresh generation.
I think that's a nod to the fact that the Cambridges are the bridges... pun intended,
between the British Monarchy and the new generations.
A fresh audience discovering their service and initiatives.
But it's not only about fresh and new, because something that it's a bit odd is that the
background is literally solid bedrock.
It also has a meaning, of permanence, of being solid, of standing the test of time, and we
can guess that this goes beyond them as family, and represents the Monarchy itself.
In fact, William represents that permanence, since he is the one dressed with the LESS
contrast in regards to that bedrock background.
He is the embodiment of that solidity, and he's almost fused into it.
Notice that contrast also helped to picture William and Catherine as that Yin and Yang
that I've mentioned in other pictures of them.
Catherine is the highest contrast character in the picture, William is the lowest contrast
character, so between them they create that sense of balance again with yet ANOTHER visual
clue.
And something has to be said about the general PAlette of the picture.
The main color scheme is warm.
Remember that we started with the smiles, how that warmth was channeled by their facial
expressions and how the color PAlette of the picture is a neat complement.
Now, red makes a special guest appearance on those... chairs, stools, where Charlotte
and George are sitting.
They look a lot like camel saddles.
Well, it's really not the color that caught my attention, but the shape.
They put them so the triangular section is visible.
And you might already be aware that triangles are a symbol of ascension and progress.
A symbol that they might be interested in representing every time they can.
And the fact that they are red is also a symbol of rising power.
Now, we don't know here Catherine is sitting, but William is sitting on some kind of...
shiny ball? or it looks like a Ballon d'Or too.
If you ask me, I'd say that it's some kind of Middle Ages Disco Ball.
But whatever.
It's always nice to analyze pictures because you can take your time and really dive into
the details to see what do they really communicate.
Your brain is always going to jump to the end, like "It's a nice picture and they look
so lovely and integrated as a family"
But... at the same time, learning to read a composition, wether it's a photograph, or
a painting, or a drawing, or a sculpture, allows you to discover the richness of the
symbols that we use to communicate without words.
It's exactly like body language.
When you learn to spot the details, you'll have a lot more fun looking at the world around
you.
If you want to refine your observation skills, all you have to do is download my 100+ body
language tips, right in the description of this video.
My name is Jesús Enrique Rosas and it will always be a pleasure, my body language buddies!
Much Love, and Bliss.