“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)It would be a great slogan of minimalist artists.
The Webster dictionary defines minimalism as follows: “a style or technique (as in music, literature, or design) that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity”.
This definition can be applied to minimalist photography as well.
Minimalism is a very subjective, open to interpretations concept in the art, which emphasizes the purity of color, form, space and materials.
“A shape, a volume, a color, a surface is something itself. It shouldn't be concealed as part of a fairly different whole.” (Donald Judd)It is an interesting fact that an American artist Donald Judd who became known as one of the key exponents of “Minimalism”, strongly rejected this term. He preferred to describe his own work as “the simple expression of complex thought”.
Minimalism can generally be summed up by the phrase “Less is more” (This is the phrase by the German-American architect Mies Van Der Pohe, but it’s surely not only about the architecture).
Minimalism is the art of simplicity. Minimalist photography focuses on a few essential elements (complementary or contrasting colors, lone subjects, simple lines, geometric shapes, strong shadows) for composing the photograph.
5 tips for minimalist photographs:
*Make your subject the strongest point of your photograph.
Choose your subjects very careful, because their number should be kept to a minimum.
*Remove elements that can distract the viewer from your main subject.
Take out of the frame anything that can be taken; use depth of field, making the background blurry.
*Experiment with color.
There are many ways to do this: use complementary colors between your main subject and the rest part of the shot; use contrasting colors; make the subject the same color as your background; use the color out of the shot (for example use the strip of the color in the black and white photo in post production).
*Take several shots of the same subject.
To find the best simple thing that capable to evoke emotion you can try different angles, lighting and exposures.
*A minimalist approach can be applied to nature photography and other types of photography as well.
Try to look at the ordinary things differently and … happy shooting!
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