Originally posted by Liney I would however be interested in your reasons...
Even before photography was invented negative, or white space as it is sometimes referred to, has been used by artists, landscape designers, advertising agencies and architects for a very long time. Unfortunately a lot of people do not understand it as a legitimate way to turn a reasonable composition into a good one. A single dominant shape or a weighted component in the image draws the eye more effectively to it.
The main motive of a photo if it is small alone or uncluttered and is occupying only a small amount of image space in percentage figures but clearly is the main reason for taking the photograph, has to have something to balance it with and white or negative space will offer this balance. Without this white space many a photograph would look more like a macro shot if the object is small enough.
Hope this will explain it. I not always find the right words but think you will get the picture.
(pun not intended)
Cheers