I know from bitter experience that minimalism is one of those genres of photography that most people either love or hate. Once someone even commented with one word, ‘stupid’, to of my images which I did find amusing. Whether you are a lover or hater though, I am sure most would agree that this is indeed minimalism. However, I was told by a commenter on one site where I posted that this image that it was not minimalism. If it isn’t minimalism, then what is it?
A tree fights to be seen in this minimalist urban environment
Signs are all around us, informing us, directing us, and warning us of dangers. By the very nature of what signs need to do, they are generally quite prominent against the background, and therefore make great subjects for both my minimalist and new topographics photos.
For more photos in this series please click here
West Yorkshire in Colour is a series that I’ve been working on since 2014. In fact, it was the start of this series that really kicked of my passion for urban minimalism
Although most of my photography now is in colour, there are certain times when black and white suits the subject better, particularly in minimalism where high contrast works very well. I do enjoy subjects in strong sunlight and deep shadows as can be seen in this example. More of my black and white minimalism can be found here in my sales gallery.
I very rarely intend to take black and white images deliberately, but sometimes there is so little colour that it just makes sense to convert them to monochrome. In my sales gallery here you will find many examples of my work in this style.
One of my favourite photographic subjects is lines in minimalist photography. Lines can be vertical, horizontal, or even diagonal, and work equally well in colour and black and white compositions. More of my lines series can be found in my sales gallery here
Shape, form, and colour is often key to my minimalist images. Here is one I took recently while on holiday in Verona, Italy. More can be found, and even bought as prints etc. here
This photograph, taken in Leeds, England, is one of a series of over 50 images from all over the world which, for obvious reasons, I call City Grids. The full series of images can be viewed here
All the elements came together here, I hope!
I normally try to avoid reflections in shots such as this, but on this occasion I thought the wisp of distorted clouds seems to give a slightly ethereal feel.
I saw this building whilst driving north towards Boston on the interstate and decided it would make a good photograph to compliment my ‘City Facades’ series. However, trying to find this building once parked was another issue as, once in the downtown area, the high rise building make it very difficult much other than straight up!
This is an image from a series I entitled ‘Texas Colours’. The full series for purchase can be found here. It was also one of the nine included in the feature about me in Aesthetica Magazine.
Although I have done some editing to eliminate reflections from the glass in the window, most of the work was done when taking the shot. I often have to move around to adjust the reflection to my liking, sometimes to include it, sometimes not. More of my minimal style windows can be found in my sales gallery
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and followers!
Well, certainly in minimal photography it is anyway. This wall was otherwise a random mix of shapes, colours and textures, but some close cropping brings the composition, for me, to life.
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am normally trying to avoid streetlights. Sometimes, however they do contribute very well to the composition, and no more so than in this image.
I tried various crops of this photo, including with and without the ‘circle’ in the bottom left corner. Normally I would have cropped it out, but somehow the remaining image didn’t seem as balanced as when I left it in.
I am a real sucker for ‘I can see a face’ images. This one I ‘found’ on a fairly uneventful stroll around a dull and grey city. Thankfully the bricks on the wall were white, which nicely contrasted with the blue of the door and vents.
A lone tree tries to fight its way out of the urban jungle.
It is difficult to know how far to go with minimalism. Taking out too much detail can lead to blandness, whilst leaving in the detail can be distracting. In this image the intent was to see just how much detail I could remove to keep visual interest. For me this works, the essential part of the image being slight imperfections in the wall to compliment the simple composition.
This image is part of a series of images featuring that ever popular subject of ventilation grilles, which is a subset of my Industrial Minimalism series. I think I spend an unhealthy amount of time at the weekends wandering around deserted industrial estates!
I understand why architects and designers add features such as this to facades for aesthetic reasons, branding and so on. What I don’t understand is why, as in this case, they do it to rear walls!
I don’t normally use my blog to shout about my own photographic achievements, but I thought this one deserved a mention. Two weeks ago this photo took the top spot on 500px; no mean feat considering the intense competition from all the landscapes and fashion images which generally have more mass appeal. Agreed it was only for a couple of hours at most, but it made it!
My very first post on this blog was ‘Minimalism is like Marmite’ and I felt this image summed up this title so well I thought I would revisit. Many will see this as just too simple to appreciate. Where is the subject? Where is the detail? However, if you are like me, you will see beauty in the arrangement and balance of the shapes, being the essence of minimalism in photography.
Here in the UK we’re defintely a bit short on shadows, particularly over the last couple of months, so I thought I would post a rare sighting from last year. Needless to say, about an hour after this was taken the skies clouded over and we got the usual rain! Thankfully I travel overseas for work!
Being the photographer I know how all the elements fit in this image, but as a first time viewer it may be difficult to understand the arrangement. The brain may try to apply reason, but in the end cannot complete the picture. This is one of the fascinating things about Minimal photography – it is often about what you can’t see rather than what you can.
Isn’t it funny how we remember things from our youth, and yet forget why we just went into the kitchen. As soon as I saw this image it reminded me of Gnasher, the pet dog of Dennis the Menace in the British comic strip from the Beano, Continue reading
Here is a comment I saw relating to a competition I entered recently:- “There are quite a few boring photos in the mix in this competition that dont (for me) capture any emotion or movement showcasing architecture. Taking a flat photo of a building 100 yards away is not exactly creative.”
Most of my photos are as a result of urban exploration, walking around cities looking for suitable images. On this occasion, however, I was driving by, on my way to a meeting, and this builidng just pooped out and me and said ‘take my photo’! Continue reading
Anthropomorphism – the attribution of human form or other characteristics to beings other than humans. This is another one of my ‘One Magical Day’ series as mentioned in my previous post.
Whilst I am very lucky to be able to travel the world for work, and visit some very exciting and photogenic cities, sometimes I find great subject matter right on my doorstep. This interesting wall was found outside a very busy supermarket, Continue reading
I have no idea why a factory would paint its premises these colours, but they must have had their reasons! This is part of my Industrial Colour series, some of which I have already posted, and many more to come!
Viewers often mistake this photograph, which is part of my ‘abstritecture’ series, as a painting. It may be because the distortion that the warped glass causes gives the effect of brush strokes. It may also be that they don’t necessarily recognise it as Continue reading
When I first stumbled upon this view, my intention was to just take a photo of the bright yellow wall. The fence was in the way however, and as there was only about 3 metres between it and the wall, it was not possible to shoot through the fence Continue reading
I am sure that some think that minimal urban photography doesn’t have time constraints. After all, buildings don’t move do they? Then again, it depends where your reference. Continue reading
I was staying in a hotel with a colleague of mine and we had a couple of hours to spare between meetings. As I didn’t have a car, and the hotel was in ‘highway wilderness’ my only photography option was to walk around the hotel. Continue reading
For me, the thrill in photography is chasing that unusual subject, composing it in the viewfinder, and pressing the shutter. I also get excitement from first seeing my images on the monitor, as I did in the past with film, seeing my prints come to life in the darkroom. Continue reading
As one does, I was walking through a local industrial estate one Sunday morning when I came across this brightly painted building which really appealed to me. Continue reading
Sometimes the elements just come together. When was trying to take a photograph of this wall which had been partially overpainted, I was moving around trying to find a position to avoid the cable. Continue reading
Stuart Allen 