foregrounds

Foregrounds are the parts of a scene that lie closest to the observer or camera. They form the lower plane of the composition and are distinguished from the middleground and background. In visual arts and photography, foregrounds provide depth, scale, texture, and context.

In photography and film, foreground elements frame the subject, add interest, and help guide the viewer's eye. Choices about lighting, color, and focus affect how the foreground is perceived and how it interacts with the rest of the image. Producers may use a shallow depth of field to blur the foreground to emphasize the subject or, conversely, place striking foreground details to create immediacy or storytelling cues.

In astronomy and remote sensing, foregrounds denote emissions or sources between the observer and the intended target. Galactic dust, synchrotron radiation, free-free emission, and zodiacal light are common foregrounds in observations of faint background signals such as the cosmic microwave background. Foreground contamination complicates data analysis; researchers apply multi-frequency observations and statistical component separation methods (for example, SMICA, NILC, SEVEM, Commander) to model and remove these contributions while preserving the signal of interest.

In computer graphics and video games, foreground layers are used in parallax scrolling to enhance depth perception. Foreground elements can be static or animated and may interact with the player or camera. Proper use of foregrounds enhances immersion without obscuring important imagery.