Yes—left/right placement and the direction a subject faces or moves can affect how viewers read an image. A common idea is that, in left-to-right reading cultures, images that “flow” left to right often feel more natural or calm, while right-to-left flow can feel less settled or more tense. However, this is not universal: some viewers find right-to-left motion more dynamic or engaging, especially for moving subjects like vehicles or birds.

A more broadly useful compositional cue is this: a subject facing into the frame tends to feel like it is arriving or engaging the viewer, while a subject facing out of the frame tends to feel like it is leaving. So a person on the left looking right, or on the right looking left, often appears to be “coming.” A subject on the left looking left, or on the right looking right, can feel like it is “going.”

So yes, side placement matters, but its effect depends on culture, subject, and context more than any simple brain-lateralization rule.