Different Therefore Cornered

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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Minimalist Photography of a Red Leaf on a Brick Wall in Jaipur

Take a different stand or opinion and you shall be cornered quickly. Now-a-days there are very few people who respect "difference of opinion" or the uniqueness of people. Suppose you choose a career that is not very popular like, enrolling for a fine art course or sculpting rather than business management or finance or science, people start viewing you differently. Some may even stop hanging out with you.

Behind your back they will tell to others that something is seriously wrong with you, and that you are not a normal person. Well, I fail to understand how does if matter that you choose what. Even for me, whether I choose to do Minimalist photography knowing the fact of it being non-mainstream and I wont be able to make premium dollars for it, or I do wedding or product photography its completely my choice. 

Why do people get bothered?. People are diseased with "crowd-behavior" and they want others to do the same. Why do they forget that at some point even the most popular genres of work were not so popular and it took a group of few individuals who believed in these genres and made them popular.

Few words on the composition of Nature Minimalist Photography

Coming back to the shot, I found this beautiful red leaf at Smriti Van Jaipur. The photo-walk was organized by the local Instagramers Jaipur team and me being a power user decided to attend it. Quite a few of my work is listed on Instagram and you can follow me there via my Id: @prakashghai

I have taken many leaf photos earlier but this one was special as the leaf was red in color. How could I not make a minimal composition with that, is what I told myself. I wanted the focus purely on the leaf and therefore I placed the leaf on extreme top right, making the shot fall under the Minimalism Category: Minimalism as Less Elements.

I chopped off most part of the distracting blue fence. It was spoiling the color palette and was making my shot look more maximally minimal in nature rather than minimally minimal. I used leading lines in reverse this time, beginning from the left of the frame and broadening as they approached the leaf and hence pointing at the subject.

Must Read:

• Types of Minimalism
  
  
• What is Minimalist Photography?
  
  
• 5 Minimalist Photos that Depict Less is More

The Lucky Shirt

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
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Green shirt hanging on a clothesline against a weathered orange wall in Jaipur, minimalist color photography by Prakash Ghai

I was walking along a busy street in Jaipur with my camera when I spotted this shirt drying on a clothesline on the footpath. A group of nomads lived right there, just a plastic tent over their heads and life on the busy street rushing past them. I almost walked past the subejct at first but then the color palette was too good to ignore. The green against that orange wall was a perfect minimalist frame and palette that would add some novelty to my portfolio.

I have been shooting minimalist photos for years and these accidental stops are still the ones I remember the most. The planned walks to Jawahar Kala Kendra or Jantar Mantar, those hit different than these unplanned ones.

I moved in a bit closer to the green shirt and got rid of everything else around it. Fewer elements in the frame means more weight on the primary subject. That is the core logic of minimalism and which is why it works every single time.

How I Composed This Minimalist Photo

The weathered orange wall behind the shirt was doing half the work already. I did not need to manufacture a striking background for contrast. The texture was already there, along with the warmth. I let the metal clothesline enter the frame diagonally from the top left and allowed the shirt to take place on the right side. 

The shirt was still partially wet and that made the color from a darker green at the top of the sleeve to a lighter shade toward its bottom. That gradation gave the frame depth without adding extra elements. Less is more, even in the way a fabric dries.

I kept the shirt as the sole isolated subject with the wall filling everything behind it. Negative space was not the main goal here, I wanted to highligh the shirt. Sometimes in minimalist photography you fill the frame and still keep it minimal. This time I did it by being close to the subject but not too close.

Other Minimalist Photos using Clothesline as a Subject: 

• Middle Class

• Knot in a Relationship

• Loose Ends

• Together Yet Apart

If Tomorrow Never Comes

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
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Each day I sit next to the window thinking about you, dreaming that one day we will be together. I tell myself to be patient and let nature do its job. But sometimes I am very fearful. I know that we are destined to be together, but what if "If Tomorrow never comes?.

Last Sunday, I was sitting idle at home relaxing and thinking where to go for a photo-walk. I ran out of options and was very reluctant to go the places I had been before. It is 15th June 2015 as I write, and on 3rd of June "Jaipur Metro", the new Public Transport service via Train was inaugurated in Jaipur. The train station is a mere 100 feet away from my house, so I thought it would be a nice idea to go there and shoot the new building and its creative architecture.

I had planned to shoot that very popular "Still man, moving train" street photography shot which I had been longing for. I entered the placed and asked the security guard if photography was allowed. I was expecting a positive answer from him, but he replied that "photography is only allowed for those who have official written permission from the operations head". I was very disappointed. None of the public places in Jaipur allow photography (apart from the heritage tourist places) and I happen to miss a lot of quality street shots for that reason.

I have seen many of my international photographer friends on Facebook post very good street shots taken at public places. I thought why not try taking permission, so I went to the inquiry counter and asked for the operations head, but he was not at his desk, I told myself, "forget it". And I decided to leave the train station.

While I was on may way out I saw a staircase which was under construction. I took that staircase and that lead me to this dark big hall with only a window letting in some light. I felt a little better as I knew I had my Minimalist frame right in front of my eyes. To compose, I placed the window on the right and the slanting rays of light running across, just under it. During editing, I enhanced the highlights and darkened the shadows.

Conditional Love

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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Two Yellow Circles Minimalist Photography with Light and Shadow

What is Love? I am "Not" too sure about that, but are you? People talk of love as a feeling which they get into unknowingly. It starts-off as an initial attraction and later turns into extreme concern and care for that special person. When in love, you do not tend to acquire or gain something from the other person, rather you become selfless and try to be as giving as possible. And of course, that person hardly ever leaves your mind, whether in sleep or when you are awake, in happiness or in sadness. OK, but with all of this the real question is,

Is Love really love? and well especially now-a-days? People see and learn all of this from movies and of course through real-life experiences. As soon as something similar happens with them, they jump right to the conclusion that it is "Love". Well, they don't just stop there, rather they move a step further and claim that it is "TRUE Love". 

How true are their claims can only be found out during testing times. In most cases they take a step backwards and re-classify their feelings as mere "Infatuation". Why? because their loved one is in trouble, or is in testing times, in bad circumstances. Rather than supporting his/her partner they just turn away from them in search of someone else who is free of all the negativity and full of optimism, carries a smile, etc etc. No one wants to accept the reality that there are ups and downs in everyone's life, and measuring, loving and judging people based on their circumstances, is being a very shallow individual yourself. 

I wanted to show the same scenario with the picture above where two yellow circles or two people were in a close relationship to begin with. Buy as soon as one of them ie the circle on the right started facing testing times (depicted by the triangle created by the dark shadow or problems.), the other one distanced himself from him. There are similar cases in real life and in most cases "Conditional Love" or rather "No Love At All", is being misunderstood for "True Love". In the past, 

I have had many friends face similar issues in their relationships. What is your take on it? Why is it that people are so shallow now-a-days? Some are even afraid to fall in love. Share your thoughts below. I would be happy to read your insights.

More on the Minimalist Composition

The shot falls under Minimalism as Simple Geometry category. I tried to use negative space a little differently this time, I placed it between the two circles. Getting the Triangle created by the shadow right, was a little tricky, as a) I was in the middle of a busy street loaded with traffic and b) Shadows change very very fast and If I had taken more time to shoot, the shadow might have engulfed the entire circle and that kind of a shot would have had less visual appeal. 

Must Read:

• Types of Minimalism
  
  
• What is Minimalist Photography?
  
  
• 5 Minimalist Photos that Depict Less is More