Line
Horizontal Line
The opposite of the vertical line, the horizontal line represents matter, and the forward and backward movement of time. This line also signifies the skyline or horizon and man’s place on the Earth.
There’s something about a horizontal line in an image that conveys a message of ‘stability’ or even ‘rest’. Horizons, fallen trees, oceans, sleeping people – all of these subjects have something about them that speaks either of permanency and timelessness or rest.
Horizons are the most common horizontal line to be found in photographs and they often act as a dividing point in a photograph – in effect an anchor that the rest of the image is formed around.
Collected from various sources
Vertical Line
A line is a dot that went for a walk.
~Paul Klee
Man, alone in the animal kingdom, stands upright, so the vertical line represents the physical symbol of the number One, man striving toward Spirit.
This simple line is the basic shape of the World Tree or Axis Mundi that connects the Heavens, the Earth and the lower regions. It is not only a basic phallic symbol but also signifies the soul that strives for union with the Divine.
The upright line tells us where we are at a precise moment; think of the big hand of the clock, vertically oriented at 12 o’clock.