In teaching her graphic design students the principles of composition, writer and educator Veronique Vienne has come up with a formula that is both memorable and fun. In a walk through Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens last week, she elucidated: “In order to be interesting a photograph must have one of three elements: An umbrella; a bicycle; or a black chicken.”

The umbrella she refers to appears in a 1954 photograph made in Vietnam by Robert Capa; the bicycle, in a 1968 photograph by Josef Koudelka [from Gypsies]; and the black chicken, in a 1950 photograph by Edouard Boubat.

This sounded like pretty good advice for shooting vacation pictures, so please take a look at my two photos below of Veronique chatting with the owner of Le Petit Bistro de Mauchiens—and let me know how I’m doing. [Saint-Pons-de-Mauchiens is a medieval fortress town in Languedoc-Rouisson, near rive l'Herault.]

Veronique Vienne is co-author, with Steven Heller, of 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design; they are currently working on a new revised edition. She teaches graphic design at Paris College of Art and at EESAB School of Art in Brittany, gives lectures and workshops on the subject at universities and professional organizations in France and abroad, and will be presenting a workshop at the AIGA Minneapolis conference this fall.