Sometimes my favorite comic book layout is a simple symmetrical grid. The regularity of the grid can create different effects depending on the story. In some stories, I find that the strict progression of the grid propels the narrative forward in a way that makes the outcome seem inevitable. In other cases, a grid can serve as a quiet counterpoint to an explosive or strange storyline.

Over at Electro^plankton, I was intrigued to read about a photography team, made up of photographer Ari Versluis and stylist Ellie Uyttenbroek, who uses the grid format . Their work plays off the ideas of individual and group identity, showing members of various groups composed in a grid layout. One can see both the distinctiveness of the group identity and the conformity within the group at the same time.

What I noticed looking at these pictures was the different ways my eye read these photos. In some cases, my eye would take in a block at a time, moving vertically down the page, as if to emphasize the uniformity of the images. At other times, I seemed to take in the whole grid at once, then various sets of images would emerge from the grid based on similarities of color or style. The photos could tell different stories, either of similarity or difference, based on how my eyes viewed the grid.