Paint Patch Vs Partial Window

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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Black and White Minimalist Photograph of a Patch of Paint on a wall versus the Partially Open White Window at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur - India.

The starting point here was the Patch of Paint in the foreground. Next, I looked for a complimentary subject.

In doing so, I found this open flap of a White Window. Then, I re-did my frame to make sure only a part of both the Paint Patch and the Window was visible, so as to create some mystery in the frame.

When I captured this, Jawahar Kala Kendra was in the process of re-painting the walls and therefore you even see the paint brush stokes on the wall. I generally don't like fine cracks in the wall but it looks good in a photograph so no complaints.

This did not require much editing. I shot this colored but I converted this into black and white to remove any color distraction so that one could concentrate on the juxtaposition of the Paint Patch and the Partial Window.

The EXIF Data of the Photo is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 600 D
  
  
• Lens: Canon 100 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/2.8
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-200
  
  
• Focal Length: 100 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  

Hope you enjoyed the Paint Patch Vs Partial Window black and white Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day !

Apartment Side

Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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A Minimalist Photograph of the Side of a residential apartment building in Jaipur City.

This Looking up Minimalist Photograph was taken at Swej Farm Jaipur. The place hosts a lot of residential and office apartments.

This shot was actually predetermined. Even before getting out of my house, I knew that I would be capturing a Windows in Repetition Minimalist Photograph.

All I had to do here was to find a good set of well designed simplistic windows that were mounted on a wall with a decent color. The gray color and white bordered windows were prefect for a Minimalist Frame and color palette.

The next thing was to not be too close to the subject rather shoot this from a distance. This would enable me to leave some negative space, show the objects as small and therefore maintain the Minimalism feel.

The other question that popped up in my head was whether to convert this photo into Black and White, but since the Gray and White combination acted as a good Minimalist color palette, I left the photo colored.

The EXIF Data of the Photo is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 600 D
  
  
• Lens: Canon 55-250 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/8
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-200
  
  
• Focal Length: 123 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Pattern
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  

Hope you enjoyed the Apartment Side Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day !

Two Window Panes

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A Black and White Minimal Art Photograph of Light Coming through Two Window Panes at a Staircase of a Shopping Mall.

This shot took a long time to get here. I mean I tried to edit this shot at 5 other occasions, but I only got the Black and White editing right, this time.

I had to make the staircase darker and some other parts dark as well, so that I could bring down the excess detail in the shot.

Sometimes, I do this during editing at other times I try to be careful on field. What happens is that, while you are on field, you tend to take a lot of shots and sometimes you get carried away in the flow. Here, I did end up capturing more details than required.

To Compose this, my starting point was the Two Window Panes. I placed them on the extreme right and top hand side of the frame and let rest of the subjects fit in.

I shot this in color and therefore that made it even more difficult to imagine this as a Minimal shot for starters. I have written about it before, but I will explain it again:-

"Sometimes you need to take the color off the photograph, to do away with the clutter caused as a result of it."

The EXIF Data of the Photo is as follows:

• Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D Mark II
  
  
• Lens: Canon 50 mm Prime Lens
  
  
• F-stop: f/8
  
  
• Shutter Speed: 1/15 sec.
  
  
• ISO speed: ISO-400
  
  
• Focal Length: 50 mm
  
  
• Metering mode: Spot
  
  
• Exposure program: Manual
  
  

Hope you enjoyed the Two Window Panes  Minimalist Photograph.

Thank you for your time. Have a Nice Day !

Related Posts:

• The Missing Window Pane
• Broken Window Pane

Chair against the Window

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai

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What we have here a Black and White Minimal Art Photograph of an Empty Chair against an Open Window with light coming through it. 

This Shot was taken at Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, and this is probably the first time I have got a Chair and a Window together in any of my photographs as far as I can remember.

One of my blog followers Steve, would probably now scream and yell responding to me via email, wondering as to how am I able to get so many shots from the same place i.e Jawahar Kala Kendra most of the time. 

You know Steve, you got to be as lazy as me for it ;) My laziness stops me from travelling and exploring newer places. I mostly work in a radius of 15 Kms.

A little about how and where I found the Chair against the Window.

Well, I was there at JKK (Jawahar Kala Kendra) with a co-photographer Yatin Bhalla and we were sitting at Indian Coffee House. (in-house cafe)

I told him lets go upstairs, there is a new Cafe that has opened up called Cafe Quaint. 

Yatin quickly agreed and we headed out from Indian Coffee House towards the new Cafe. 

We did not know the way, so we asked the security guard sitting outside the main area near the exhibition gallery.

The guard told us that the cafe was on the first floor. 

So me and Yatin went up the stairs only to find out later that we had climbed up the wrong way to a big wide empty hall, where usually big art exhibitions are put up. And Cafe Quaint was on the other side of the building.

That Exhibition Hall was closed that day and I saw some open windows around the huge empty spaces. I took out my camera and told Yatin that I wanted to take a few shots before we corrected our course. 

Yatin smiled and replied "You are totally addicted to Minimalism and you don't want any corner of JKK to escape your camera. Go ahead, but please make it fast because I am feeling really hungry".

I began by taking a few look-up shots and some straight from the front flat window shots. 

Somehow my shots mostly work from the sides. So I knew I did not have a worthwhile shot yet.

I told Yatin "I am not getting anything good here, lets go".

While I Was on my way back I casually clicked this shot. And I told Yatin "Hold on brother for two more minutes, I think I am getting some ideas now."

There were Two Windows right next to each other on two walls and my starting shot was that I got both the windows in my frame, one on the left and one on the right with the corner or joining point of the walls right in the center . The empty chair was on the bottom left under one of the windows. 

Next, I took this shot.

This shot was simpler & I preferred it more, so I took one more shot just to make sure that the focus/settings were correct at least in one of the two shots. 

I took all my shots in the Black and White mode of my Canon EOS 6D Mark II Full Frame Camera. 

I was on the 50mm Lens, it was dark so I bumped up my ISO to 10,000 thanks to my Full-frame camera's ability to give me decent pictures even at that high an ISO.

I used to get a lot of grains on my earlier Crop-Senor Canon EOS 600D Camera even at 800 ISO.

Curious about the Camera and Lenses I use? Click here: Camera Gear 

Alright, now quickly also take a look at the Minimalism Type Classicifation

• Minimalism as Less Elements

The Photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements category. The less elments being just the Chair and the Window.

In case you want to buy a print of this then CLICK HERE

Thank you 

Have a Nice Day ! 

Another Shot from the same location:

• Two Windows One Chair

Curl Vs Lines

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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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

Window behind a Rectangle

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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I found this setting at Jawahar Kala Kendra. 

This time, there was some construction going on, and this Blue Rectangular Plyboard was lying on the floor.

The board was covering the Window partially.

That gave me an opportunity to shoot my favorite "Minimalism as Parts of the Whole"Minimalism :)

To make the composition more interesting I added the Orange Bar on the top right of the frame. 

Camera Used: Canon 600D

Lens Used: Canon 100mm prime 

Hope that you enjoyed the shot. 

Stay tuned for more !

The Partial Window

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai

Hello, 

Good Evening !

The above Minimalist Photo has been categorized as Minimalism as Parts of the Whole.

The reason being because I have shown you a Part of the White Window above, rather than the whole of it, Leaving room for Imagination. 

This shot was taken Yesterday i.e. on 6th of August 2017 with my Canon 600D Camera and 100mm Prime Macro L series F 2.8 Lens.

One thing to note here is the EXIF Data aka Camera Settings. 

The focus point in the Photograph was on The Partial Window.

I had to choose a High Aperture Value, so that the lines of the side rails of the staircase in the foreground, stayed sharp. 

If on the other hand, I had used a Low Aperture value like F2.8, then the foreground lines would have got blurred, spoiling the feel of the shot. 

Below is the EXIF Data for more clarity:

 

• Camera Mode: Full Manual
• ISO: 400
• F-stop: F/11
• Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec.

Hope you enjoyed the Shot.  

Thank you!

The Missing Window Pane

Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes

Photo  By © Prakash Ghai

Though I have titled this photo as The Missing Window Pane, I also have another interpretation of it.

I looked for a meaning for this photograph within my Sub-conscious mind. When I did, I realized this relates to my real life story. 

I had a girl friend back in 2003, with whom I were to get married. But since she was elder to me by a couple of years and was already working, things did not work out the way I had thought. Her parents wanted her to get married asap but I had plan to fly to Bangalore for my MBA Degree. 

I was left with a tough choice, whether to fly to Bangalore for higher education or Simply Marry her. I chose to get a Degree, based on the assumption that its true love and she would happily wait. 

But, since I moved to a far off location from my city, our relationship turned into a long distance one. 

Soon, there were misunderstandings and many a times I flew back home to clarify. But one day it all ended abruptly. We had a big misunderstanding, which I could not sort out. Along with that, her ego got hurt. I kept asking her to give me One Last Chance to Clarify and Explain, but She refused. 

The Missing Window Pane above is that Missing Last Chance, she never gave me. If she had, life would have been different.  

That said, I would like to thank her as well, as This art i.e. Minimalist Photography, that I do today, is because of her.

OK, Long emotional story ! NO 

I have long forgotten her for good :) I have learned to move-on. 

Move-on, just reminded me to move-on quickly to the Composition.

Composition Highlights 

The Shot above Falls under the Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes Category of Minimalist Photography. What made me click this shot, was the one Missing Window Pane. 

It broke the repetition very beautifully.

Also the Reflections in the window creates nice visual abstraction. It somewhat sparks a feeling of nostalgia. 

Another way to look at the picture is In Terms of Shapes. These are 4 Vertical Rectangles in Repetition.

The One Curve made my the Electrical Wire coming out from the 3rd Missing Window Pane, also breaks nicely the visual symmetry.

So, Those were the Photo Highlights. Hope that you enjoyed the Shot. 

See you around next time ! Comments and Feedback Welcomed !

PS: ...by the way this photograph deserves a poem (well..more than a haiku).  If I was a poet, I would have written one.

Related Posts:

• Broken Window Pane
• Two Window Panes

Distant Brown Chair

Minimalism as in Small Objects

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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I met a blogger at an Instameet recently and we discussed a few blogging basics that day. While on my way back from that technical meeting, I stopped at Cafe Coffee Day - Civil Lines, Jaipur, which is very near to my house. 

I thought it would be a good Idea to have a chilled glass of my favorite Tropical Iceberg Coffee.

So I ordered one for me, along with a Chicken Sandwich. To sit, I chose the window seat right next to the  billing counter. 

While I was waiting for my order to arrive, I noticed some reflections in the big wall to wall glass window adjacent to my seat. 

I thought maybe, there was a Minimalist Shot in those reflections. After composing a few frames roughly through my eyes, I decided to stop trying as the clutter was way too much. 

Meanwhile, my order arrived. 

The famous tagline of Cafe Coffee Day goes "A lot can happen over Coffee". 

Well, it played out quite well for me.

After, about 4-5 gulps of Tropical Iceberg Coffee, I noticed this Distant Brown Chair, through the glass window next to me. The Chair was placed inside the small room of the Security guard of the building.

Although it was night and the light wasn't much, thankfully the security guard's room had this bright white illuminating light falling on the Distant Brown Chair. This presented me with a great opportunity to capture a decent Minimalist Photograph.

I was on my 100mm Canon f2.8 Macro Lens (affiliate link). I set the lens to "Manual Focus" and punched in the following settings to take the shot:

Camera Settings: 

 

• ISO speed: ISO-400

• Exposure time: 1/20 sec

• F-stop: f/2.8

Well, in the end I was satisfied with the composition and now I can safely say that at least for me "A lot did happen over Coffee".

More on the Minimalist Composition

a) Minimalism Category: Minimalism as in Small Objects, the small object being the Distant Brown Chair

b) The Rule of thirds* is not applied here. The brown chair is placed almost in the center. 

I broke the rule. :)

*I always mention that one should never place subjects in the center of the frame. But here, I did place the subject in the center and the reason is: the Vertical White Rectangular box, within which the Distant Brown Chair is placed, makes the chair appear Off-Center visually. I hope you understand what I mean with "appear off-center visually, despite being in the center.

Also, both ends of the frame, i.e left and right are dark and blurred, that further justifying the lack of rule of third requirement rule.

With that "Off-center and Rule of Thirds MESS", its a wrap for the day !

I send you all warm greetings from India once again, its really cold thanks to unexpected winter rain :)

Father and Son

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

The thick long bar on the top can be interpreted as an elongated rectangle. That rectangle represents father here. He lived a very long life, fought hard for his bread and has grown very old now. With age comes lack of enthusiasm and therefore he has turned very dull and boring. The son, or the rectangle just below the elongated one, on the other hand is young and vibrant. He has a long life ahead of him full of opportunities. His father has always supported his dreams and therefore you see the closeness between the two geometric elements. We can say the closeness represents love in the relationship.
To compose, I was on the 55-250mm Canon zoom lens. This was shot from a distance at the bani park circle, Jaipur.  Shot was taken around 4 pm in the evening. They highlight of the shot is the reflection of the trees in the smaller rectangle and that precisely, was the primary motivation to take the shot.

Photo by © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

The Window

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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A Black and White Minimalist Photograph of a Window with 6 Panes illuminating Light.

This Photograph was kept a little under exposed on purpose and was taken at City Palace - Jaipur.

I had to do a lot of editing here. I adjusted the highlights, exposure, levels and had to crop it many a times to get the final image the way I wanted. Black and white editing is not easy. You need to also understand the 0-255 range. I wish I had a larger size uploaded for this image but to balance out the composition I had to do what I did.

As a regular practice, I always add a small Buy Now link under each Minimalist Photograph I post here. This one too has that button. I have tied-up with Pixels.com (earlier Fine Art America) for making my Minimalist Photographs available for Sale worldwide. I love their service and have sold 150+ photos and some merchandise as well. The sales are good.

Click on "Buy Minimalist Photos" to browse the complete collection of Minimalist Photographs I have captured till date.

Thank you, I wish you a nice day and I send you greetings all the way from Jaipur, India.

Note: I am editing/updating this post after about 6 years. Original post date is 20.08.2014 and today it is 06.05.2020. Blogging is not that easy and maintaining and updating the blog on a regular basis is even tougher. I look forward for your feedback. In case you do end up reading this, please take time out and leave some feed back on my Minimalist Photographs in the comments section.

Hope: Black & White Minimalism

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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A Black and White Minimalist Photograph of an opening in the roof of a dark room signifying hope.

This is an Opening in the roof of a dark room signifying "Hope". At least that is how I interpret it. Hope is something on which we all survive.

Sometimes, you have to look up, and not to your right or left, to spot Minimalist subjects. The light coming in from the opening caught my attention. I used the wall to its right as a diagonal line running across. I did get some bad highlights but then they are ok to some extent. They are limited only to a small area i.e the extreme white on the edge of the opening.

The Photograph is all about Lines and Geometry as a whole. Lines are accompanied by the squarish opening and some curves. Next time when you are out on a photo-walk, try and look up, you would be surprised to find many interesting subjects that could help you create some beautiful Minimalist Photography frames.