Today I want you to change your way of seeing things.
Don’t take photos with too much color saturation. Don’t overload your frames with too many elements. That is bad, very bad. It causes rejection, tires the eyes, stuns, and makes people want to look away from your photo.
Photographic minimalism consists of saying a lot with very very little. With a photograph rich in elements we would all be able to say something, more or less. The challenge is to photograph few elements, few colors, and with that be able to say something. Any of us could photograph a stone, a foot, a glass, but how many are capable of transmitting something with so little?
That is the grace: photographing a stone, a foot or a glass being able to tell a story, generate an emotion, make happy, sadden, provoke tenderness, passion, panic, doubt, peace, nostalgia or love.
Photograph small things. Photograph rare things.
Practice minimalism.
And if you want to delve into photographic composition and learn all the tips and tricks for some of the most impressive photographs, take a look at this mega guide that we have prepared for you.
But… what is minimalism?
Minimalism is not just a type of photography or fashion, minimalism is a philosophy, a trend that ranges from decoration to music through photography. It is a lifestyle. Do you need to be minimalist to achieve minimal photography? Not necessarily.
However, it will help you to know some keys to achieve a minimalist photography with interest. Less is more, but as long as that less be well executed and careful ;). In today’s article, I am going to tell you those keys so that you can achieve your first photograph minimal. One that pleases, that attracts, that seduce.
What is a minimalist photography?
As I have told you in the introduction, minimalism tries to reduce to minimal expression, to eliminate everything that is left over, to abstract, to reduce to the essential. How does this apply to photography? Choosing a single subject and making it the sole protagonist of the image. Everything else is superfluous. It is removed in any way possible, but it is removed. There cannot be elements that have nothing to do with the story, that distract, that divert the gaze. It is about showing the beauty of simplicity, seducing with minimal information. It is a simple photograph, on a visual level, with an economy of elements, but not of content. A sober photograph clean.
Now you’re wondering how that’s done, right? Let’s see it.
Tips to achieve a minimalist photography
As I told you in the introduction, being a person who has deeply internalized this lifestyle can help a lot, but it is not a necessary condition. If you follow these tips you will see how you achieve it ;).
1. Understand minimalism
Although it is not necessary to be a minimalist in all aspects of your life, knowing this current and understand her It will help you when visualizing your photo, looking for ideas, framing, looking with eyes minimal… It would be good if you read something related to this philosophy, if you tried to understand his way of understanding life and art, above all.
2. Take care of the composition
Very, but very important is to pamper the composition in a minimalist photograph. If there are one or two elements in the image and they are poorly placed, you have completely ruined the idea. Take care of the lines, if they are straight, they have to be straight in your image, unless you are forcing a diagonal. In that case it will be intentional, not an unforgivable oversight.
Skip the rules, whenever you can, that provide creative value, but you know… consciously. Take care of the balance, apply the rule of thirds when it is convenient and skip it when you think it is necessary. But, please, pamper the image, control how you arrange the elements within the frame, because every inch of your photography counts.
3. Objectives
You can take minimalist photography with any lens, from a telephoto lens, which will help you isolate subjects with blur (using wide apertures), to a macro lens that will help you decontextualize or abstract. Passing, of course, through more standard focal length lenses, such as 50mm. Each type of objective will offer you a opportunities different. If you have several, play, experiment, discover. If you only have one goal, squeeze the most of what it offers you.
4.color
Use color as the protagonist of your photography minimal. Bright colors and strong contrasts can make sense of your photography. Search contrasts in complementary colors, play with the intensity in the edition (better to adjust the intensity than the saturation or you will create unreal images) and take advantage of the hours of hard light so that the colors shine more bright.
5. Black and white in minimalist photography
If the color itself is not the protagonist of the image and you think that it can only distract, eliminate it, as you would do with any other leftover element of the scene. Now, do not photograph directly in black and white. Unless you want to get a quick idea of whether it’s an image that can look good in grayscale. Color photo and later, in the editor, convert it to black and white.
And if you want to delve deeper into black and white photography, be sure to check out our mega guide where you will find all the extended information with lots of tips and tricks to achieve the most spectacular grayscale images.
6. Backgrounds in minimalist photography
Look for plain backgrounds, white, black, or any other color that does not distract or add information. It is worth adding value to the image, but not unnecessary information. You can remove an annoying background by changing the perspective, locking in long exposure to get a silky water effect, or using very wide apertures that completely blur it, to name a few examples.
7. Textures
Textures can be a good protagonist of your minimalist image. You should know that you can enhance them with a hard and lateral light. Black and white also enhances them. You can find textures in nature, architecture or discover them with a macro, give life to what is not seen with the naked eye ;).
8. Geometries
The geometric shapes that the brain automatically recognizes can be great protagonists of your minimalist photographs. The shapes, the lines, the patterns… If you don’t know where to start, here’s a hint: architecture.
9. The look
Change the way you look when you go down the street. Focus on the details, on unique protagonists. It doesn’t matter if you have a camera or not, it’s about training your eye, your gaze. Try to see with a new look, more innocent, as if they were the eyes of a child. On the way to work, or home, or taking a walk, look around you, try to isolate a subject, or an object. Think about how you would frame it. This exercise will come in handy.
10. Emotion
I have advanced it before, it is a simple photograph at a visual level, but not of content. Your purpose as an artist is to move your audience, with more or less elements. In this case with less, which does not imply that you cannot be emotional. Use colors, lines or negative space to provoke emotions.
11. History
Just as you can move with the minimum number of elements, you can also tell a story. Even do both. How to narrate a story through photography is very well explained here, however, applied to minimalist photography, try to focus on a single element, or two, if necessary, eliminate everything that is left over in the scene. I leave you with an example.
12. Minimalist Photography Inspiration
Get inspired. It is the best thing you can do if you have not practiced minimalist photography before, if you are not very clear about what it is or how to achieve it. Wander through galleries of minimalist photographers and soak up their work. It is not about copying it, but about understanding how it works, how it can be conquered with an image taken to the limit of the simple. For this, I leave you some examples, take a walk and enjoy their work.
You will see how, taking all minimalist photographs, each one has its own style. Over time, if you like this type of photography, enjoy it and practice it, you will end up finding yours.
In black and white:
To finish, a gallery of minimalist photographs:
In company
White
Road
Freedom
the jar
You like? With this shot of inspiration I leave you. Feel free to share your results with us! I hope you found it useful and practical. If so, do not hesitate to share it on your favorite social network ;). Your generosity will be eternally grateful ;). Thank you and see you soon!