Figure-Ground Perception

Figure-Ground Perception explains the relationship between an object and its surroundings. The visual field is organized into a figure and the ground it is seen against. The eye focuses on either the figure or the ground to form a distinct perception of the situation from the perspective of each component. For example, the picture below displays the view of a canyon through a wrought iron fence. By solely focusing on the figure (the wrought iron fence) one only focuses on the figure, which creates a different perspective of the situation than if on only focused on the ground (the canyon).