I had seen quite a few examples of minimalist photography lately, and I was also keen to give it a try. I gave myself the added challenge by bringing along my wide angle Xpan camera!
I have always been interested in what I call "simple photography", whether that be focusing on geometry, strong light, or empty spaces with one or two strong objects in them. I think the simplest photos are the best, and I continuously try to work on the concept of "3 things or less" in a photograph.
I have, however, never gone out intention to shoot with "minimalism" in mind. There is certainly a wealth of reading one can do around minimalism, both as an art and a concept. My aim for the day was to look for simple shots that at the same time had strong compositions. I made it an even harder challenge but doing it with my wide angle Hasselblad Xpan. All photos shot on Ilfords HP5+ black & white film
Always up for a self imposed challenge, I surprised myself and got through 3 full rolls of film! In keeping with the minimalist approach, I won't add commentary to each photo, and will upload them as one gallery. Some concluding remarks will be provided at the end of the post, as usual.
Remember, these shots are super wide, if reading this on a mobile device turn it sideways to enjoy some 'wide angle living'!
Vertical shots
I even tried a few shots in vertical, which actually worked OK!
Overall observations
I really enjoyed looking for minimalist scenes. It is actually quite hard to do with such a wide angle lens, but it is good practice to train your eyes for different shapes and simple scenes to photograph. Architecture works quite well in this regards, as does train tracks and other linear objects. I was surprised by how many rolls of film I ended up shooting over a couple of hours, although by the end of it I was happy to just observe the world normally, as I was starting to lose the plot a bit with looking for minimalist shots all the time!
Being focused on one specific theme is certainly an exercise I would recommend for any photographer. I must try some minimalist photographs in colour, that would make for some bright and contrasty shots I would imagine!
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the shots, and see you next time!
Neil
