Minimalist photography

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Minimalist photo Minimalism...... (22969073683).jpg
Minimalist photo

Minimalist photography is a form of photography that is distinguished by austere simplicity. [1] It emphasizes sparseness and careful composition, shying away from overabundance of color, patterns, or information. [2]

Contents

Etymology

Costa Blanca Spain by Dari Ingal Costa Blanca Spain by Dari Ingal.jpg
Costa Blanca Spain by Dari Ingal
Minimalist landscape by Martin Vorel Wavy Green Field in Minimalist Style.jpg
Minimalist landscape by Martin Vorel

Minimalist photography arises from minimalism in art. This style emphasizes the use of simple and often monochromatic compositional elements: color, objects, shapes and texture. [3]

History

Minimalist photography arose in 1960s America from the minimalist movement. [4] While minimalism may manifest in many ways in other art forms, minimalist photography usually tends to make great use of negative space, employs sparse composition, and centers a strong singular focal point. [5] Over the decades, minimalist photographers such as Michael Kenna, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Grant Hamilton, and Mark Meyer have risen to prominence in the art world and gained fame for their minimalist photography. [6] [7] [8] [9]

Technique

Minimal Airuno Minimal Airuno (125281203).jpeg
Minimal Airuno

Minimalist photography focuses on simplicity & its artistic style can be encapsulated by the quote, "less is more." Minimalist photographers achieve this effect by casting aside all the unnecessary components in creating their works. [10]

Minimalist photography

"As an approach in photography, minimalism or minimalistic photography could be taken by the photographer in all genres. No matter your are a portrait, architecture, landscape etc. photographer, minimalist photos are always an option as long as you have a minimal look toward your surroundings" -Milad Safabakhsh, Founder of Minimalist Photography Awards. [11]

Minimalist photography often features a single subject with nature as the background, or nature itself as both background and subject. Common motifs in minimalist works include geometric or repeating patterns, contrast in lines and texture, and emphasized depth and distance. This last element is often used to express a feeling of vastness and to try and capture the feeling of being in an incredibly open space in nature, as seen in the image of a lake below.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minimalism</span> Movements in various forms of art and design

In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt and Frank Stella. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction against abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary postminimal art practices, which extend or reflect on minimalism's original objectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monochrome painting</span> Paintings made with a single color

Monochromatic painting has played a significant role in modern and contemporary Western visual art, originating with the early 20th-century European avant-gardes. Artists have explored the non-representational potential of a single color, investigating shifts in value, diversity of texture, and formal nuances as a means of emotional expression, visual investigation into the inherent properties of painting, as well as a starting point for conceptual works. Ranging from geometric abstraction in a variety of mediums to non-representational gestural painting, monochromatic works continue to be an important influence in contemporary art.

Minimal music is a form of art music or other compositional practice that employs limited or minimal musical materials. Prominent features of minimalist music include repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, consonant harmony, and reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units. It may include features such as phase shifting, resulting in what is termed phase music, or process techniques that follow strict rules, usually described as process music. The approach is marked by a non-narrative, non-teleological, and non-representational approach, and calls attention to the activity of listening by focusing on the internal processes of the music.

The Hasselblad Award is an award granted to "a photographer recognized for major achievements".

Erstwhile Records is an independent record label devoted to free improvisation, particularly the electroacoustic variety, contemporary, experimental composed music, and combinations of both. Erstwhile was founded by Jon Abbey in 1999, whose personality and tastes are closely identified with the label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroshi Sugimoto</span> Japanese photographer and architect

Hiroshi Sugimoto is a Japanese photographer and architect. He leads the Tokyo-based architectural firm New Material Research Laboratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Composition (visual arts)</span> Placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art

The term composition means "putting together". It can be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art. Composition can apply to any work of art, from music through writing and into photography, that is arranged using conscious thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion photography</span> Genre of photography

Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic studio or an outside setting. It originated from the clothing and fashion industries, and while some fashion photography has been elevated as art, it is still primarily used commercially for clothing, perfumes and beauty products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wedding photography</span> Photographer aimed at wedding ceremony

Wedding photography is a specialty in photography that is primarily focused on the photography of events and activities relating to weddings. It may include other types of portrait photography of the couple before the official wedding day, such as a pre-wedding engagement session. On the wedding day, the photographer(s) will provide portrait photography as well as documentary photography to document the different wedding events and rituals throughout the wedding day(s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature photography</span> Photography genre

Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis on the aesthetic value of the photo than other photography genres, such as photojournalism and documentary photography.

Richard Misrach is an American photographer. He has photographed the deserts of the American West, and pursued projects that document the changes in the natural environment that have been wrought by various man-made factors such as urban sprawl, tourism, industrialization, floods, fires, petrochemical manufacturing, and the testing of explosives and nuclear weapons by the military. Curator Anne Wilkes Tucker writes that Misrach's practice has been "driven [by] issues of aesthetics, politics, ecology, and sociology." In a 2011 interview, Misrach noted: "My career, in a way, has been about navigating these two extremes - the political and the aesthetic."

Lo-fi photography refers to unconventional photographic practices, chosen for aesthetics, which give an impression of low quality. Popular techniques include the use of toy cameras or pinhole cameras, for their distinctive stylistic effects. It can be considered a reaction to the perceived ease of creating technically perfect photos in the digital age. Some emphasize a return to film, while others use digital technology to accomplish the same effects. Low-fidelity photography has also been commonly linked with lo-fi music as well.

Richard Chartier is a sound/installation artist and graphic designer from the United States. He works in reductionist microsound electronic music, a form of extreme minimalism characterised by quiet and sparse sound.

Miyako Ishiuchi, is a Japanese photographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texture (visual arts)</span> Perceived surface quality of a work of art

In the visual arts, texture refers to the perceived surface quality of a work of art. It is an element found in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional designs, and it is characterized by its visual and physical properties. The use of texture, in conjunction with other design elements, can convey a wide range of messages and evoke various emotions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diagonal method</span> Photography

The diagonal method (DM) is a rule of thumb in photography, painting and drawing. Dutch photographer and lecturer Edwin Westhoff discovered the method when, after having long taught the rule of thirds in photography courses, he conducted visual experiments to investigate why this rule of thirds only loosely prescribes that points of interest should be placed more or less near the intersection of lines, rather than being rigid and demanding placement to be precisely on these intersections. Having studied many photographs, paintings and etchings, he discovered that details of interest were often placed precisely on the diagonals of a square, instead of any "strong points" that the rule of thirds or the photographic adaptation of the golden ratio suggests. A photograph is usually a rectangular shape with a ratio of 4:3 or 3:2, from which the diagonals of the photograph are placed at the bisection of each corner. Manually placing certain elements of interest on these lines results in a more pleasing photograph.

Mike Vensel is an American artist, photographer and fashion designer. His works explore ideas of simplicity, structure, fluidity, nature and form in various mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video art, digital art, performance art and fashion design. Throughout all of his creative endeavors he maintains a sleek, sexy minimalist ecstatic that transcends the various mediums.

Geoffrey Farmer is best known for extensive multimedia installations made of cut-out images which form collages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Svarbova</span> Slovak photographer (born 1988)

Maria Svarbova is a Slovak fine-art photographer. Svarbova's most recognized collection is In the Swimming Pool.

References

  1. Philippines, Digital Photography, 2010, ‘TECHNIQUE Minimalist Magic’, Minimalist Magic, 20 Oct. 2010, pp. 062–067.
  2. Kantilaftis, Helen (2014-10-27). "Minimalist Photography". Student Resources. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  3. VanEenoo, Cedric, 2011, ‘Minimalism in Art and Design: Concept, influences, implications and perspectives’, Journal of Fine and Studio Art, vol. 2(1), pp. 7–12.
  4. says, Shahana Akter (2015-04-08). "Exploring Minimalist Photography: History, Philosophy, Inspiration". www.photodoto.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  5. "Minimalist Photography: A Comprehensive Guide (+ Tips)". Digital Photography School. 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  6. www.michaelkenna.com https://www.michaelkenna.com/resume.php . Retrieved 2022-10-06.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Alaska Photographer Mark Meyer". www.photo-mark.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  8. "About". sxseventy.com. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  9. "Bibliography — Hiroshi Sugimoto". Hiroshi Sugimoto. Retrieved 2022-10-06.
  10. Tuck, Kirk, 2008, Minimalist Lighting, Professional Techniques for Location Photography, Amherst Media, New York.
  11. "Official website | Minimalist Photography Awards". www.minimalistphotographyawards.com.

See also