Photo by theilr
As a photographer, I’m constantly looking for new techniques to learn and different styles to practice. I do believe it’s important to find a niche and try to master it, but I’m not the kind of person who takes well to routine. I think that’s why self assignments are so helpful to us creative types, they allow us to experience new things while still practicing what we already know.
On a recent self assignment, I challenged myself to create a collection of minimalist photos. Heading into the challenge, I assumed the practice would help me develop a stronger eye for negative space, which it did, but it also sharpened up a couple other areas for me as well.
The Photo Is In The Details
This one should go without saying, but less is definitely more when it comes to minimalism. Since minimalist compositions comprise of very few objects, it adds extra emphasis on making sure the sparse subject matter you are working with is captured perfectly. It forces us to look at every last detail of the frame to decide if it adds to the image, whether or not it’s essential to the composition, or decide if it needs to be removed or rearranged.
Photo by Nick Page
Paying this much attention to the details will improve your photography–regardless of what you happen to shoot–by teaching you a very valuable lesson: editing. No, not the kind of editing you do in Lightroom or Photoshop. You will learn how to look at a scene and edit out everything that’s non-essential to the composition, which results in much stronger images.
In landscape photography, this could mean moving your camera over a few inches so the trash can that’s off in the distance no longer falls within your composition. In portrait photography, this could mean moving your subject to a different spot to avoid shooting in front of a highly distracting background. It could be any number of things depending on what it is you’re photographing, but at the end of the day, minimalist photography will sharpen your eye for the details.
Photo by Lali Masriera
Taking A Closer Look
A lot of minimalist style photography involved things like textures, geometry, or isolated subjects. Oftentimes, this requires the photographer look at things from a different perspective: by zooming in with their eyes to avoid getting stuck looking at just the bigger picture.
For example, let’s look at the Parlement Européen in Strasbourg, France. Just about anyone would walk up to a building like this and take a moment to appreciate it’s unique architecture. Most photographers would start pulling out their wide lens so they can capture the entire building in the frame. As we see in the image below by Cédric Puisney, that can create some pretty great photo opportunities.
Photo by Cédric Puisney
But, how many of those photographers grab a nice cityscape and stop putting any more thought into additional and more unique ways they can photograph the building. Perhaps, by getting out the zoom and narrowing in on a very specific section of the architectural design, like this:
Photo by Quentin Verwaerde
Your Challenge
Spending a week practicing and shooting in a minimalist inspired way is the perfect self assignment for those times when you’re not quite sure what you want to photograph, but still have the urge to get out there and practice. It can improve a number of your skills by testing what you know about composition, and allowing you to practice slightly more advanced techniques like color theory and negative space. Not to mention all the bonus lessons you won’t even realize you’ve learned until one day your using them to make awesome photos.
Photo by Eduard Lefler
On that note, one of the best ways to learn a new style or genre of photography is to immerse yourself in it. Spend time looking at all the minimalist images you can. Begin developing your own style by pinpointing what it is that you like and dislike about a particular image. Take notes and bookmark some of your favorites so they’re easy to get to when you’re needing a little inspiration. Lastly, remember that even if you’re not keen on minimalism as a style, there’s still a lot it can teach you about photography–so don’t be afraid to try new things!
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