09-09-09 – Farktography Classic: Less is More 2

link to original contest for the lazy? 😉

Here you go.
http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=1999126
Surprising theres still a good number of images that are still up despite it being over 3 years old.

I don’t know if I should get ‘credit’ for this theme but, man, I like this style.

btw – I’d be cool if the classics went without a credit tag. But it really doesn’t matter that much.

cloudancer, I’m going with a couple of different interpretations of minimal. Simple, clean, and compelling are the main elements I’m working with. The one shot I have so far borders on abstract, but at the same time it’s the subject without any fuss or bother that I’m going for.

Some things I’ve submitted in past contests that I’d consider pretty minimal:
http://65.78.140.207/TF/farktography/090513_anniversary/railcar-5585_sm_web.JPG
http://65.78.140.207/TF/farktography/090108_money/quarter_stand-5443_sm_web.jpg
http://65.78.140.207/TF/farktography/take3/bridge_tower-5557_sm_web.jpg
http://65.78.140.207/TF/farktography/neon/flourescent1_sm_web.jpg

As much as I admire minimalism and the people who think it, etc, I have to admit I’m not one of them. I think I’m more of a busy person. So, for those of you who lean more towards this than I do, any thoughts on how I should think about this? What makes it minimalist? I did start by looking at the previous contest to see if I could come up with anything. Like I said, this isn’t my strength, but I”m willing to learn. Any tips, suggestions? I have an idea for flower petals (or just some flower blossoms) on a white background either spelling something out or making a pattern of some sort, but I also don’t want it to look too set up (not sure why). Thanks.

maybe check the flickr group for ideas…

http://www.flickr.com/groups/minimalists/

I guess my input (in words) would be go simple. Pick one subject and get anything else that could be distracting out of the frame.

I like this photog’s series of leaves and I plan on trying some in about 20 minutes.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.denniscampphotography.com/floating_leaves/Ark.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.denniscampphotography.com/floating_leaves/slides/Ark.html&usg=__mZaLvAFGHZqyUurBr0jseT_y1VA=&h=532&w=800&sz=190&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=3Tgl65laNQhVgM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dminimalist%2Bphotography%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Well put, U-Man. I guess I’m not one for words today 😛

And, those are some awesome leaf shots, indeed.

Simple, clean, quiet. Thank you to olavf, justkat, U-Man, and Uranus for providing me with links and examples. To be honest, I got a little carried away on looking at all those and got distracted from work (one of the downsides of working from home). I Will look more into the Flickr group tonight after the last of my jobs has been sent in, but in the mean time, I believe I have something to go on for now and my brain can chew on it while I continue on my jobs.

I got lost in searching through my archive a bit and found some things that may or may not work (also some really cool pictures I forgot I took). I will link them later tonight after I upload them and ask for opinions.

Thank you (again) for your help. I love challenges like this.

Something like this perhaps? Would this fit the bill?

Let me preface this by stating that I’m not an art critic and don’t really know wtf I’m talking about. 🙂 That said, let me critique your work like I know wtf I’m talking about.

Your pic doesn’t say minimalism to me. I know you took it with simplicity in mind, but there is still too much going on. The little flecks of grass or debris are distracting to my eye. Although I can think of exceptions, it is somewhat helpful to think of this style as really clean. Nothing unnecessary should be in there.

Taken to the extreme, this style makes me go, “Huh? That is art?” I’m trying to stay juuuust on this side of saying that this week. I may have crossed over on one.

Earlier today, I walked down to the ‘frog pond’ at a nearby church to try those leaf pics. I found a tiny muddy puddle covered in algae and junk. So I walked back home and pondered. I finally took the kids tiny play billiards table out into the back yard, covered it with a black garbage bag and filled it with the hose. I then spend 30-40 minutes floating stuff on it. As with many of my pics, I created as I went along and finished with something quite different that I started. I am really happy with one of them. I don’t know if it is minimalism or not. But I really like it.