Curl Vs Lines

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

A Minimalist Photograph of a Blue Metal Curl mounted on a Textured White Indian Wall at a Cafe in Jaipur City

I took this photograph at a cafe in Jaipur, India. A blue metal curl mounted on a textured white wall, right next to a blue wooden window with simple horizontal lines.

What we have here are only two elements in one frame. This is the less elements approach in minimalist photography.

The curl and the lines as you can see are opposites. One is fluid and circular, the other one is straight and repetitive.

Keeping both in the same frame creates a natural juxtaposition among these two forms.

Close up minimal is something I keep coming back to. When you move physically closer to a subject, two things happen.

The background sorts of collapsed and disappears and the details actually take over.

Here the white wall becomes the negative space and the two blue elements become the entire story in the frame.

The texture of the wall adds just enough interest without drawing attention away from the curl and the lines.

Blue against white is as clean as it can get in terms of having a minimalist color palette that is ideal for Minimalist Photography

There are no extra colours and the background is not busy. This is what declutter or decluttering means in minimalist photography.

You are not removing things in post processing, rather you are choosing your position and your frame in such a way that only what matters stays in the frame.

Minimalist Photography in Jaipur

Jaipur gives you these kinds of photography subjects constantly. The old city is full of walls, windows, doors and ironwork painted and repainted over decades.

Th modern city full of cafes and hangouts is no less. The colours are saturated, the surfaces are textured and the details reward a close eye. Most people walked past these without a second look.

The cafe I was at, had maybe twenty people sitting in it when I captured this shot.

Simplicity in Minimalist Photography

Simplicity in photography is not about finding simple subjects. It is about finding the simple version from a complex scene.

This wall had a door, a sign, tables, chairs and people around it. I moved in close, excluded everything else and found the photograph inside all of that.

Camera Settings:

• Aperture F/22
• Shutter Speed 1/80
• ISO 3200
• Canon EOS 6D Mark II
• Canon 50mm Prime F/1.4

This photograph falls under Minimalism as Less Elements. 

Thanks & Regards

Prakash Ghai

Old Door Handle

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

A Minimal Art Photograph of an Old Door Handle of a Parked Bus that I spotted near Ravindra Manch, Jaipur, India.

Shot taken via Canon 600 D Camera.

I guess I had the 50mm Prime F/1.4 Lens attached that day. 

What prompted me to click this?

The Broken nature of the Handle, as you can see the screws have come off.

Also, the Curve the handle has made by regularly rubbing against the Blue Metal Sheet of the Bus. 

Categorization 

The Photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements Category of Minimalist Photography. 

There are plenty more photographs on my blog. 

Head over to the homepage PrakashGhai.com to explore more :)

Thank you ! Have a great day.

Twisted Coffee Glass Straw - Colored Version

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

Good Evening.

Its been a while since I posted.

I was busy with some regular un-boring but in reality very boring stuff called Life.

Since I got bored of getting bored, I decided top open my Minimalist Photography Folder and post a Minimalist Photograph.

I felt it would be a good idea to bore my blog readers, by posting a Colored Verizon of a Black and White Minimalist Photograph that I had posted earlier. 

Or Maybe Not :)

The Above Minimalist Photograph Titled Twisted Coffee Glass Straw - Colored Version, is the Colored Version of  Twisted Coffee Glass Straw (click on the link to view).

Have a Look at Both the Versions and tell me which Version of the Photograph do you like more.

• A) Colored Version

• B) Black and White Version

Leave your choice in the Comments Below.

Thank you :) Have a Nice Day...

Oh wait, I just reminded you of Coffee ;)

Blue Lines and Waves

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

The Subject, Blue Metal Sheet with Lines and a Wavy Strip going across, was actually placed in front of a Construction Site. 

I decided to shoot this, because of the Blue Color and the Wavy Lines. Initially I took at shot from the front, of just the lines. That looked very boring and flat. 

So, in my next shot I tried to add some variety and therefore I added the wavy vertical strip to the frame.

I took one more shot from the front and this time too, I did not like the final image. So, I decided to take a 3rd shot from the side. 

Shooting from the side, helped me to add some depth in the shot and to uplift the overall artistic feel.

I always strive to shoot unique subjects using newer angles. This is just another attempt at it. 

Hope you like my little effort.

Thank You !

Lady In Blue Saree Crossing The Street With An Umbrella

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

Greetings once again. Today, I have a Street Shot to share with you all. I guess it was about time that I posted something different. So I flexed my creative muscle. 

This shot was taken today at about 4.45 pm. I stopped over a bridge/flyover with nothing in mind actually. There are two railway tracks under it, so trains keep passing by from there. I just stopped to have a look. I knew I would not be shooting the trains of course. Then, while I was observing the railways tracks below, I saw a few people passing by the street. I had a good look at the shadows being casted by them while crossing the street. 

I became pretty interested to find a subject and tried shooting different subjects that passed by the street from various angles. I missed a long shadow shot of an old man, another one of a bicycle's shadow (but that would not have been minimalist).

I also missed quite a few other people who passed by. By missed I mean, I missed the shots and I  deleted them on the spot, for I was not happy with the compositions. I could neither get the Street Photography shots right (that I shoot and keep for myself and not post them here) nor the Minimalism Shots right.

I told myself, never mind this happens. Then I spotted this Lady in Blue Saree with an Umbrella in her hand walking towards my frame. She was a little far, so I had to wait about 30 seconds. 30 Seconds is too long a wait for me, ha ha, I have less of patience and even lesser in summers when it is 45 degrees. Yes, today was hot as well. 

In the initial few shots that I took, The Lady in the Blue Saree, was just walking downwards towards me, from North to South and that was giving me a lot of clutter in the frame. I had the lady, the bus next to her in the parking, a car passing by and what not in the frame.

But, I kept following her movement and kept on clicking her. Then, surprise surprise, she just chose to change sides and cross the street. :)

Yes, this was my moment to de-clutter and I knew it.

Finally, I could now remove the unwanted elements from the frame. She moved from left to the right of the frame, while crossing the street, while her earlier movement was from north to south.

I wasted 3 more clicks, but in the 4th one, I was finally able to avoid the street traffic completely in the frame. I had to be fast but at the same time, I had to leave negative space on the left following The Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Motion is also followed here. That rule says that one should leave space in front of the moving subject from where he/she/it is traveling to, to create a sense of motion in the minds of the viewer. Like here, when you see The Lady, you know she is going to travel from right of the frame to the left and there is physical empty space in front of her to do so. 

Also note that here. The Rule of thirds and The Rule of Motion, actually Overlaps.   

Minimalism Categorization.

The Photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements Category of Minimalist Photography. The primary element here being, the Lady In Blue Saree with carrying an Umbrella. The Street and Shadows acts a tiny supporting elements.

Hope that you enjoyed this street shot and my little explanation. 

And Wait, did you notice that the Lady has a cool sense of Fashion. She is wearing Blue and that is very soothing and ideal to wear in Peak Summer. :)

T Point

Minimalism as Simple Geometry 

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

At times in life we are faced with tricky situations or lets say some T-points where we are left with only two choices to a problem at hand. We have to choose one from them and it gets really confusing. I encountered one such T-point at age 22. I had a girlfriend whom I loved a lot and had plans to marry her.

I had also been selected for my Post Graduation MBA (masters in business administration) by an MBA college in Bangalore and had the call letter with me. I had to choose one among-st "Higher Education" or "Marriage". I chose the former. And so my relationship turned into a long distance relationship and the girl just could not wait for me.

Initially I thought that I made the wrong choice but later I realized if she truly loved me she would have waited. Anyways that was in 2003 but thank god (if he exists) I am still single because you get a lot of spare time for yourself, which you don't get after marriage. I am happy to be utilizing it for my art and photography.

Of course I am looking forward to getting married but I don't think so I can do all this with ease and freedom later, like writing blog posts, taking photographs, buy expensive camera equipments, running multiple social media accounts, hang around with friends, come back home late nights. I do realize that once married I would only be able to give 1/4th of the total time I am giving to my photography right now, so I am making the best use of it.

OK, back to the Composition

This was shot at Jaipur Literature Festival 2016 which is held every year in January. I attend such events primarily to practice shooting celebrities and authors(although that's not my genre, I do it for the fun of it). I attended a few of their talk sessions as well and got a fair idea of what it takes to be there on the stage. I also look forward to the decorations at the venue i.e. Diggi Palace, which I already admire a lot for its heritage beauty.

The colorful decorations along with some light and shadow throws up unique visuals that are a treat for Minimalist Photographers. For the shot, I first followed the patch of sunlight and then looked for some color. The blue tent was shortlisted. I knew now that my backdrop was ready and that now I only had to look for an interesting foreground object. A black ladder was lying right in front of the tent and was looking fabulous against the blue.

I bent down on my knees and placed one of the T-points of the ladder's step on the top left double rule of thirds corner and my job was done. Editing the shot was extremely tricky as the blue wasn't coming out proper. Since I always shoot RAW+JPEG I switched over to the RAW file for better editing and that took me about 1 hour out of which 45 minutes just to get the blue right.

Must Read:

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

Tea Stall

Minimalism as Few Distinctive Colors 

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

A Minimalist Photograph of Colorful fabrics used by a Tea seller to protect and cover his Tea Stall/ kiosk from heat.

I was returning home on a Sunday afternoon after capturing some nice Minimalist Photographs at Jantar Mantar, Jaipur. On my way back I stopped at the road side "Tea Stall" to have a cup of Indian Chai, or Tea.

It was about 12.30 pm in the afternoon and it was really very hot and sunny. I had the camera in my lap still switched on and I was looking at the streets hunting for a street shot for some street photography, for a change. Something prompted me to look-up and when I did, I spotted this colorful mix of cloth and plastic. I knew this was an opportunity to capture a Minimalist Photograph.

This was being used as a temporary cover/shed by the Tea Seller by the street, to protect his customers and his kiosk from the heat of the Sun or Rain. The customers could now sit in a comforting way and enjoy Tea at his Tea Stall.

I captured this shot sitting on the chair, which is kinda funny isn't it? Sometimes I get really lazy.

I also made sure that I gave the brighter color i.e yellow, more space in the frame and arranged the pattern carefully in the frame using onscreen grid lines.

This photo falls under the Minimalist Photography Category: Minimalism as Few Distinctive Colors.

Another Minimalist Shot taken at the same location: Hide and Seek

Ascending Staircase

Minimalism as Simple Geometry 

 

Shot at about 6 pm in the evening at Jharkhand Mahadev Temple in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. 

Staircases make for very good Minimal subjects and seem very easy to shoot, but that is not the case. They are very tricky to shoot as you need to take care of the vertical lines, horizontal ones and the diagonal ones usually the rails and of course the symmetry. I would suggest take at least 5-6 shots every time you shoot them.

Photo by © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

Parallel Rectangles

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

A colorful lookup Minimalist Photo comprising of parallel rectangles, yellow walls and blue sky.

This Minimalist Photograph was captured at Jantar Mantar, Jaipur. I wanted to show the contrasting colors yellow and blue here, along with simple geometrical shapes i.e. Lines and the two Rectangles.

I placed one rectangle on the top left (rule of thirds quadrant) and one on the bottom right (rule of thirds quadrant). So the result was two vertical parallel rectangles being joined by one line entering the frame from the left running over to the rectangle on the right. Editing the blue sky took me a lot of time. Showing sky the way it looked to the naked eye or showing the blue as blue, takes a lot, believe it.

It is basically a look-up Minimalist shot, where you basic look up towards the sky and try and capture something. It takes a bit of practice capturing Minimalist Photographs the look-up way. At first, you would feel as if you are not able to spot anything worthwhile. The trick is to keep hitting the shutter button and reviewing what you clicked. This will give you a fair idea as to what to click and what to let go.

Hope you enjoyed the Photo. Stay tuned for more.

School Bus

 Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimal Art Photography using the back-light of a School Bus as a subject. This is a close-up shot and hence it eliminates the extra elements from the frame and there is clear emphasis on the geometry of the back-light. Next time, when you are out on a photo-walk, try to locate a stationery school bus for a similar shot. It depends what colors you find on it. School buses are usually full of vibrant colors and one could compose a lot of minimalist frame from it. But please make sure that the bus isn't parked on the main road with traffic on it. What happens is, that you would look back once for traffic and then get immersed in the shot. And therefore you may end up taking unnecessary risk. As a photographer I believe, that safety always comes first. Life (howsoever it may be good or bad for someone) is still, very precious. Always exercise caution while shooting. Good luck.

Photo By © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

Unkempt Indian Wall

Minimalism as Few Distinctive Colors

Contrasting colors on an old textured unkempt Indian wall in Jaipur. Walls are one of my favorites to click. India is full of such multicolored unkempt textured walls. You can find them almost anywhere. The highlight of the composition is the placement of the blue rectangle on the top left corner. It lifts the entire image single handed. That nail in the center wanted to grab some attention as well but, he is probably having a bad day. This shot falls under the minimalism category of "Few Distinctive Colors", the colors being, blue, yellow and orange. 

Photo by © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

Stagnant Life

Minimalism Type: Zeroism

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

Zeroism Using Water Reflections, at Jal Dhara, Jaipur

This photograph was taken at Jal Dhara, a water recreation park in Jaipur. I went there with the intention to only capture water reflections minimalism.

What are you actually looking at?

The yellow on the left is the reflection of a building. The blue running through the centre is the sky above. The green on the right comes from algae in the water. At first glance most people have no idea that this is water and that is exactly the point in Zeroism. Since I told you in the beginning that I went to Jal Dhara you guess it that yes this is a water reflection, otherwise mostly like you were 50-50 on this

When a photograph refuses to reveal its subject immediately, and the viewer has to do the work to figure the subject out it falls under Zeroism with the caveat that there is a minimalist structure underneath.

Why this is Zeroism and not Minimalism as in Low Detail which is another Type of Minimalism?

If you could look at this photograph and immediately connect it to a real world reference, it would fall under Minimalism as Low Detail. Low Detail shows you something recognisable, just stripped back.

Zeroism withholds the subject entirely. This photograph does the latter. The elements are controlled. The composition has logic but the subject does not announce itself. 

How I read this photograph

A life that was once colorful and full of movement has come to a standstill. The colors are still there but they are no longer flowing. They are just sitting still on the surface, going nowhere. Deep thought, I know, relateable?

Frequently Asked Questions about Zeroism

Q. What makes a water reflection photograph fall under Zeroism?

A. When the viewer cannot immediately identify the subject as water reflection, or any real world object, and the composition still follows minimalist principles, it qualifies as Zeroism.

Q. Can reflections be used frequently in minimalist photography?

A. Yes. Reflections work well in minimalism because they naturally strip away context and reduce a scene to colour, light, and pattern.

Q. Is Zeroism the hardest type of minimalism to capture?

A. It is the hardest to shoot with intent. it is a bit confusing to begin with but it comes with practice. Anyone can take an unidentifiable photograph. The challenge in Zeroism is making sure the composition still has structure and a minimalist logic underneath the ambiguity.

Q. Do I need special equipments to shoot Zeroism?

A. No. A phone camera works. What matters is your angle, your timing, and your ability to isolate.

This photograph was taken in a few minutes at an ordinary water park in Jaipur on an ordinary day. The only thing that made it worth stopping for was looking at the water long enough to see it as something else entirely.

Must Read:

• Types of Minimalism
• What is Minimalist Photography?
• 10 Reasons Why you should be Buying Wall Art during COVID-19 Pandemic
• Notable NFT Collectors

Interplay of Colors and Geometry

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

The Interplay of Colors and Geometry captured by clipping out the corner of a door adding mystery to the frame. This was shot at the famous, well not so famous "Badal Mahal" or the Cloud Palace, as entry here is restricted to invitees only and I was very lucky to have got an invite to visit the place. I loved the colors and the contrasts among the doors and walls. This is Minimalism as parts of the whole, where only a part of the door and wall is shown, leaving the rest to the imagination of the viewer. 

Photo by © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

Lines and Color

Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
Buy Now

A Minimalist Photo of Steel bars and multicolored cloth of a temporary roof structure. 

This shot is from a real estate exhibition that I visited. I was standing in front of a beautifully lit realtor's stall and there were a lot of dazzling multicolored lights flashing all around it. 

When I looked up towards the roof I could see the reflection of the multicolored lights being cast on it, resulting in this extremely gorgeous riot of subtle colors, helping me create a beautiful yet simple Minimalist Photograph. 

Later, during editing I flipped the photograph to add a bit of mystery, as to how the shot was actually taken. 

The photograph falls under Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes category under Types of Minimalist Photography

Hope you enjoyed the photograph. Fell free to leave some comments below.

Good Day!