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NEGATIVE SPACE - some thoughts I assembled and copied on the subject

Negative space should not be underestimated, it can be a great way to simplify your image and draw attention to a certain point in the photograph. Don’t be afraid to use empty spaces in your photographs.
The simplest way to describe it is as: "space where other things are not present."
Negative space has no "negative" connotation. It's actually a wonderful, if often neglected, design element. Properly used (as with Henry Moore's sculptures, or Zen brush paintings, or even your basic Rorschach test ink blots), it is just as important as what is there.
Negative space is the space between objects or the parts of an object, for example the area between a cup and its handle. Also the space between an object and the edges of the canvas, i.e. the space around an object. The opposite of negative space is positive space.

In her book Drawing on the Right Hand Side of the Brain Betty Edwards uses a great Bugs Bunny analogy to explain negative space. Imagine Bugs Bunny speeding along and running through a door. What you'll see in the cartoon is a door with a bunny-shaped hole in it. What's left of the door is the negative space, that is the space around the object, in this case Bugs Bunny.