Minimalism

On a conceptual level, I understand minimalism. However, on a practical level, when creating my photographs, I can't seem to create minimally. I did some research on the concept hoping to inform my photographic technique.

What is minimalism? It’s a movement that started growing curtsy of 20^th century artists who relied on simple compositions to introduce a new and unique style. Their simplicity strived from the reduced number of elements in their compositions, elements such as shapes, textures, and colours.Mike Jones

That's the one definition I had in mind when I was as the Honey Brook Farm with my wife this weekend. I had my Nikon 35mm f/1.8 mounted on the Nikon D5100 and walked around the barn while she filled her bags with tomatoes, garlic, and other items.

I had no particular goal in mind but I focused on keeping the compositions simple. I aimed for having just a few elements -- one or two -- in each image. I avoided stark contrast between the foreground and the background.

It was only after shooting a set of 10 images that I realised that I had many images of windows and lights inside and outside the barn. I'm not sure why I was drawn to the lights.

I'm not happy with the compositions of the originals. I severally cropped the images to reduce elements but something is missing. I deleted most of the images.

It’s certainly difficult to try to build a story around an inanimate object, but place a human in the shot and, suddenly, there is a whole new level of depth to it.Mike Jones

I think I know what is missing from these images. The story. What is so interesting about the image of a fan? Of an outdoor light? Of two windows on a red barn? What story lies within each of these images? Or the set of images? What do you see?

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Author:Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale.