One of the topics Freeman discusses in chapter 2 is balance and symmetry as design elements of artistic composition. He says that a perfectly symmetrical image is very hard to make, and even something that is slightly asymmetrical can ruin the feeling. Freeman also makes a point at the start of the chapter to say there are no hard and fast rules of composition and that every composition, even “rule breakers” has a time and place it can be used,
I chose a picture of my cat that I took recently for this reflection. Life is inherently both symmetrical and asymmetrical, our biological features will typically be symmetrical with each other, but the clothes we wear, for example, may not be. My cat, Penelope, has an asymmetrical fur pattern on her face, making her right eye (left, in the picture) more obscured in gray than her other eye. I noticed this while editing the photo, and I also saw how the bow tie on her collar was pushed off to the side.
To my eye, that assymetry on her face and the bow tie actually create an equal and opposite balance, and that they are diagonal to each other also creates an odd sort of symmetry in my mind. Ideally when creating this photo you would want Penelope to look straight into the camera and you would want to be positioned directly in front of her, but I think the slight assymmetries in this photo showcase the beauty of life and imperfections.