Measuring the perceived aesthetic quality of photographic images

There have been few studies that empirically assess the perception of aesthetics in photography. This study addressed a few image attributes that were hypothesized to be important to the perception of aesthetics. Thirty consumer photographers evaluated 450 images in a repeated measures factorial experiment and provided artistic quality ratings on a 0 to 100-point scale. The image set balanced main subject size, images with people and without people, and the type of perspective cue. Three first-party scenes supplied by each observer were evaluated by all observers in the study. Study results indicate that aesthetic preferences were mediated by all three of the study variables as a significant threeway interaction. Principal component and cluster analyses provided further insight into other features that impact aesthetic preference. Images in this study formed a continuum of quality ranging from low aesthetic and low technical quality to high aesthetic and high technical quality.