In Search of a Different Photographic Vision.

As many of our members know, I am in search for a different way to photograph. My present selection is minimalist photography because it gets me off the point and shoot habit that I somehow developed over the years. I find great pleasure in shooting many pictures, but finding that most of what I shoot will never get out of my computer is discouraging.
The minimalist approach is now forcing me to use a tripod and to take a lot more time composing each image. The result is very satisfying. I still take a good amount of images, but it is because of my search of the best angle/exposure of the minimalist subject. 
Note: The theme for the April 2014 theme competition is “Minimalist Images”.

Minimalist photography sure provides a lot of discussion points and it helps a lot in getting to know other photographers viewpoints. I found that one of our members was taking excellent minimalist images without fully knowing that he was doing it.  We had several e-mail discussions about it and he told me that he was actually very interested in sumi-e. I had no idea what it was and Google had to help out:
(Sumi-e photography is photography in the style of the Japanese ink brush painters - not only in the colors and textures, but in the subject matter as well)
I took a very close look at all the articles and images on the internet and realized that sumi-e uses most of the same principles of minimalist photography but limits the subject and how it is presented. That is a new challenge for me now, to combine minimalist with sumi-e.

In finalizing our competition themes for 2014 our president Jim introduced a 3rd possible way to photograph: “Wabi Sabi”. It also comes from Japan and is based on a feeling, which is difficult for us westerners to understand. Google to help again:
(Wabi-Sabi is an old aesthetic ideal, originating from Japanese Zen, sometimes described as ‘the beauty of decay’. It has also been referred to as ’imperfect, impermanent and incomplete’. Although its definition has often been eloquently put in to words, there is no such thing as objectiveness when it comes to Wabi-Sabi)
Now this becomes an issue for our members. The theme is scheduled for our October 2014 theme competition and I suggest that you inform yourself of what is considered a wabi sabi photograph. Jim’s explanation on our web site may not help very much. The theme is a challenge, but also exiting and I can’t wait to see the individual interpretations.
BG