T Point

Minimalism as Simple Geometry 

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
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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.

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• 5 Minimalist Photos that Depict Less is More

Back to Heaven

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai
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Blue stone staircase with two orange arched niches on a white wall in Jaipur, Minimalist Color Photography by Prakash Ghai

I am doing this post after a long time. I had been busy all this while promoting Minimalist Photography via my Instagram Page LearnMinimalism. I have been working very hard over it for the last few months and now the base work has been completed. Therefore, I have some spare time again to do blog posts. 

Well, Last week I was out for a photo-walk and I wanted to do a post then but I happen to jam my camera's shutter and had submitted my camera to the service center for repairs. Its only today that I got my camera back with the shutter replaced by a new one. Thankfully I had a few days of warranty left or else I would have had to pay roughly about $100. On my way back from the service center I stopped at a local coffee shop for some test shots.

This is one among-st them. The cafe is really beautiful. Its a garden cafe with gravel laid down on the floor, green plants everywhere and some fascinating colors and architecture. Loved their sense of aesthetics. This staircase I spotted at the back of the cafe and what was striking was the two little yellow arcs on the right. In fact there were three of them but I took two for my composition. I titled this "Back to Heaven" as I got that feel the moment I looked at it. Of course, whether I go to Heaven or Hell depends on my Karma but I am so far happy and confident of it, hence the assumption. 

There were many different ways this could be shot but I choose an aperture of about F/8 and focused right on the center pillar of the staircase rail. I wanted the pillar and it edges sharp and the two arcs on the right properly exposed and in focus. I was standing a little to the right of the staircase I was OK to have the steps fall in focus on their own with that aperture setting. I had my 50mm 1.4 pricey prime lens on. I could have also shot this at F/11 is what I realized later.

Anyways do let me know your feedback about the shot. Have a nice day.

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A Flower For Every Petal

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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Have faith in yourself and the universe, you are not just a petal. You hold the potential to be a blossoming flower. Many a times people think that their life is over and all their efforts have gone to vain. 

Later, their state of mind deteriorates and they start missing any opportunities that come their way. They either don't believe in them or think that they are just a trap to make them meet failure once again. But, NO. Do not commit such a mistake. Your job in life is to keep trying till you die, or until you get old. Someday you will click and be successful. You hold the potential, yes you do. One day surely you will shine and stand upright like a flower blossoming in the sun.

Nature rewards those who keep working hard. If it does not reward you for your hard work, mind you it shall be messing up with its own rules. Success will be yours eventually. Only those who give up half-way shall not be rewarded. Believe in yourself and your abilities. And not to forget, most importantly "Believe in Nature". For once trust it. It shall not disappoint you, ever.

Composition

Shot during broad daylight at about 10 in the morning with my Canon 50mm 1.4 prime lens. This is Minimalism as Less Elements.The abstract flower sort of a feel the structure was giving me caught my attention. The light and shadow combination instantly reminded me of the leaves of a lotus flower (inverted). 

I kept it really simple and avoided center placement of the subject. Yes that was the trap here. Converting to monochrome was an active choice as some areas were blown out due to excessive light and because I was bored of the regular yellow that's spread all across my city, Jaipur.

Illuminated Exit

Minimalism as Less Elements

Minimalist Photography by © Prakash Ghai
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Each soul has a purpose in life and the purpose is made known to it before it takes shelter into a body. Some souls are able to fulfill their purpose and are given an Illuminated (or celebrated) Exit from the world just like a gala farewell party to a performing employee of the company. The illuminated geometric structure with sky in the background is used here to depict such a scenario. 

Many souls on the other hand fall prey to minds influenced by the material society, hence they feel trapped and continuously crave for an exit. So the question is what do you do? Well, become aware of your soul and its wants. Listen its calls. Make it feel comfortable in your body. Don't do any sort of self-harm. Follow a healthy life-style. Souls may want to live longer in your body to fulfill their purpose and they would tend to feel restless in an unhealthy body.

Ok, now back to the shot. This shot was taken at Jantar Mantar during the first Instameet cum Photowalk oragnised by my Instagram Page "Learn Minimalism" for the theme Simple Geometry on 20.09.2015. (I am doing my bit to popularize this genre of photography.) Although I have categorized this shot under "Minimalism as Less Elements", this can also go in under Minimalism as Simple Geomentry for lines. 

I was down on my knees for the shot, looking towards the sky and it took me a good 6-7 shots to finally get done. I generally compose shots using my LCD screen but since it was extremely hot and bright nothing was visible on the screen. Therefore I switched over to the View Finder. Why did I mention this? because in the View Finder of most cameras there is no 3x3 overlapping grid which makes things a little tough for visual artists like me.

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An Artists Dilemma

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Minimalist Photography By © Prakash Ghai

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This minimalist photograph was shot at Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur, Rajasthan, around 4 pm in the afternoon.

At that time of day the shadows get longer and the Jawahar Kala Kendra architecture gives them clean walls to fall across. 

Also, I wanted to share a situation close to my heart that I feel and have gone through myself as an artist.

An Artist's Dilemma

It is not easy being an artist. Usually what happens is that your immediate peers, your close friends and your family, would neither understand the work you do, nor will they be very optimistic about it. 

They just do not know the scope and potential of your genre, your vision, your self belief and of art overall, and therefore they will try and make you believe that you have chosen the wrong path.

An artist requires about 3 to 5 years of base building before they can properly monetize their work.

So here comes the dilemma! What should an artist do? Stick to their non-money generating art in the early years of creation, or listen to their immediate peers and choose a different path? get into business or a 9 to 5 job.

I face this dilemma myself as I do minimalist photography. The non-mainstream photo art genre. I do not shoot weddings, product or portrait photography, and people keep asking me where the money is.

I usually have no response to give them. I believe if I stick to what I do, I will be able to sail through eventually as I have that confidence in my work and my commitment to my art.

But life is really not easy. If you are an artist facing the same dilemma, share your story in the comments.

Coming back to the photograph and the composition that makes this minimalist and how it depict an artist's dilemma

The door on the bottom right represents the artist’s immediate peers. The water outlet on the left represents the artist. The long shadow of the outlet shows that the artist has been able to take their work forward to quite an extent.

The partition between the water outlet and the door shows the disconnect between the artist and those around them.

The composition’s highlight is the depth created on the right by placing the door on the rule of thirds.

The shadow differential between the two sections of the wall makes them look like different surfaces, even though the underlying colour is the same. I shot this at around 4 pm, which gave me that long afternoon shadow.

The image is black and white. I converted it because the wall is red in real life and I could not get the camera to reproduce that red accurately at the time. I later went back to the same wall and got the colour version, which you can see in the post Open Door and Water Outlet on a Red Wall. But I still like this version. Black and white strips everything down further and makes the shadow the main event.

In terms of types of minimalism, this falls under Simple Geometry. Two objects on a flat wall, separated by a shadow line.

Jawahar Kala Kendra is one of the best locations for minimalist photography in Jaipur. Designed by architect Charles Correa, the entire complex is built around geometry, flat colour blocks, and light. I have shot there hundreds of times and still find new frames every single time I visit.

If you want to experience this kind of seeing for yourself, I run a photowalk at JKK as an Airbnb Experience.

Buy a fine art print of this photograph: An Artist’s Dilemma on Fine Art America

Must Read:

• Types of Minimalism

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