Jack and Mike

i would not say that there are "rules" of composition, per se.
it is often said that rules are made to be broken.

in my view, the best rule of composition depends on the subject or subject themselves in the image.
composition can change the emphasis on different parts of an image, and the chosen composition must and does
reflect on what the artist wants to mean.

composition can be done in a way that nothing in the image has more importance than the rest;
and it can be done many different ways to attract attention/importance to particular parts of an image.
if one is restricted to the "rule of thirds", then it will often be a mistake as it prevents the artist from fully exploring
all the possibilities inherent in the image.
putting something right in the middle of an image can be as good or even better than following the rule of thirds; it always depends
on the image itself and what the artist wants to say.

the final composition chosen for a subject is done for one reason only: the particular meaning intended for a particular image.
change the composition a little, or a lot, always changes the message, the meaning.
of course, this does not apply to "snapshots" or point-and-shoot photography, those belong more to the memory aspect than
someone's spiritual reflections.

my 0,02c.