Minimalism Theme Articles
As the members of the Peer Mentor Program improve their photo-eye it can be educational to have some monthly peer mentor themes that specifically emphasize composition. Taking these photos and “voting” on these compositional themes should begin with thoughtful consideration of the chosen theme.
In the 1960s art and architecture pared down composition to its basic essentials to create clean simple lines and shapes. Minimalist photographs typically feature a single subject placing emphasis on the “negative space” around it. A key ingredient in a minimalist photo is excluding distractions and keeping composition simple and straightforward.
The following article have great sample photos with suggestions on how to create minimalist photos that grab the viewers attention. Enjoy !
“40 Minimalist Photography Examples for Your Inspiration”, by Stephanie Kay-Kok in The Photo Argus. This is an excellent article to start with ! It has 8 great suggested approaches and each approach has 3-4 photos that will grab your attention. For example two of the approaches are “Tell a Story” and a “Visual Narrative” that asks “What is happening?” This article will get you to think about minimal views that are all around us … but continue with another article or two.
“Minimalist Photography Tips” in Discovery Digital Photography. For many of us an important “learning tool” is to remove distractions in our photos. This article explains how simplistic composition is essentially all about removing distractions … and that can help most of us improve our photos. In a true minimalist photo “the viewers eye is not going everywhere trying to find what to focus on.” This article explains how to blur the distractions.
“8 Tips to Become Excellent in Minimalist Photography” by Nancy Young in Photodota. In life we often hear the phrase “Less is More” and this article uses that and the phrase KIS (Keep it Simple) as the foundation. The author emphasizes negative space, color, distractions, the rule of thirds, and texture as the foundation of minimalistic photography. The article ends with 8 ideas to get you started and a number of minimal photos.
“Complete Guide to Minimalist Photography” by HARI in Shoot Philadelphia. If you are interested in learning about the history of Minimalism in photography and would like to explore the work of minimalist photographers, this is a good article to explore. It begins with two leading minimalist photographers and describes a number of important ingredients for good photos.
“What You Need to Know About Minimalism in Landscape Photography” by HARI in Shoot Philadelphia. This article focused primarily on how to create landscape photos in minimalism, The author encourages decluttering the the scene to “speak to the subconscious” with compositional tips: Rule of thirds, Negative Space, Texture, Leading Lines, Isolation, Color, and some suggestions for post-production.
“The Best Images from Gurushots “minimalist Shots” Challenge” by David Strauss in Fstoppers. This “article” is simply a collection of dozens, if now hundreds, of minimalist photos. It is a great place to take-a-look to give you ideas that you might want to build upon.