Two important things to bear in mind are that the eye follows a line, and that it also tries to construct a line from appropriate suggestions as a clear line provides a natural path for the eye, which moves along it.
Perhaps this is not the most elegant sentence Freeman has ever written, but the meaning seems clear. The mind constructs meaning through pattern and uniformity, which it seeks and even builds when it can't be clearly found. As producers of images, photographers can help viewers see by being aware of lines - explicit or implied - when composing.
For this exercise, three activities are required. The first is to sketch the implied lines in two photos provided by Freeman in the course notes. I have scanned and painted the implied lines here. The lines with arrows are what Freeman refers to as the dominant lines.
Next, we were to look at three of our photos and do the same analysis. I got carried away and did a few more. These came from a collection of images shot 2007-2009 when I was resident in Kathmandu and made visits to India.
The final part of the exercise is to compose two photos, the first of which includes an implied eye-line. For this I'd like to go back to a photo I shot two weeks ago aboard a Japanese naval vesssl that has two implied eye-lines complemented by a heavy vertical line pointing in the same direction.
The second image is to include extension of a line, or lines that point. In this image of a near-by skyscraper, the inclination of the camera and the lines of the building lead the eye up.
Whereas the road here is a line extending beyond the horizon.
Finally, an image with multiple implied lines. In the foreground the figures pushing the car lead the eye to the right. The cars in the background form a line of points leading to the left, but their inclination leads the eye down toward the figures.
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