Why is the Square Format so Appealing?

There was a time when I’d encounter other older photographers who would say that converting an image to black and white or using square format is cheating. Their past photo-related traumas aside, I think that the square format is pretty incredible for various reasons. And in 2025, I think that using assistive AI or Generative AI is cheating. So why not use all the tools available that a camera offers to you? Afterall, the square format is just so appealing for so many reasons.

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The square format, first off, is appealing because it create a sense of balance in the images that we’re looking at. Your mind only needs to think about and focus on what’s right in front of you. You’re not moving your eyes up and down the scene. If anything, it gives your eyes a break — and more than anything, our eyes need a break these days.

Because modern cameras are mostly designed to create images in a landscape 3:2 format (the exception being Four Thirds and the Fujifilm X Half) you’ll only ever be using the center of the scene. You don’t have to worry about what’s in the corners at all.

Think of it like this: it’s like seeing just what’s right in front of you and not paying attention to anything in your periphery. Try this: create a diamond shape with your hands, place them around the outer edges of your eyes, and try reading this text. To make it easier for you, I’m going to make this paragraph even longer than normal. When you continue to read this text and look at everything that’s right in front of you, you simply just focus in on the subject matter there and throw everything else out. Basically, you look directly ahead at all times.

I challenge you to try shooting with just the square format for a week and see what happens.