It is just amazing with how much vague generalization this term usually gets when applied to visual matter. Rhythm became a popular term for expression of a whole load of unarticulated feelings about the image – while at the same time, the official definition is frugal: "(orderly) repetition of visual elements". Now, this orderly repeat is only the simplest form, the lowest level still going as an idea of rhythm. In music (which, in comparison, seems so structurally advanced), this would be called "a tempo", almost derogatively so, like a metronome beat itself. Are we dealing with an inferiority of the eye here? Let the ear show us the way: the complexity of rhythmic shapes only starts with repetition, and then goes into a variety that is seemingly easier to hear than see. What is important here for the perception of rhythm is the feeling of that mentioned tempo. It seems that the help we need is a sort of coordinate system: this is somewhat a condition (and an integral part) of the rhythm. Which means, if this isn't quite a rhythm: oo   o o oo o   o oo ooo   o  o, then this for sure is: oo...o.o.oo.o...o.oo.ooo...o..o. The obvious question is just where do we get the coordinate system? Well, where do we get the tempo of music before it starts? No silence, and no white paper have it. We have to wait for the music to start and bring the idea of tempo: at the same moment reading of rhythm begins. The visual elements of the image are the coordinates for themselves, and their own rhythm. This also concludes that the whole idea of tempo is just an intermediate tool, a derivative of rhythm itself – so let's by all means leave the metronome in the practice room. Every visual presence causes the emergence of certain visual rhythm. It is only to be expected for the simpler rhythms to be more available – an easier read. Beside simplicity, one more ingredient makes the rhythm obvious: its driving character. The real elements of rhythm are not the actual shapes and colors in image as much as the visual forces these produce: rhythm is a direct product and a manifestation of the composition itself. Strong and obvious rhythm is an exhibition of strong forces which, well phased, create an active stream of energy – that is often taken as the dominant axis of composition.
	rhythm
	The rhythm here isn't very obvious, but its appearance is quite interesting. A very static and strong image, anchored by the central mass, gets the first stimulus by the right window "jumping" away from branch on the ground. The sliver of window in the upper right amplifies that movement. Only then do we start going back, connecting all the rhythmic elements (similar and not) into an almost ironic mix of the two different image halves, successfully keeping the eye bouncing around like a ping pong ball.