Mini me
QMy photo club has a competition theme at present of minimalism. How would you shoot a minimalist landscape? Chris Bartlett
AThe definition of minimalism can be quite broad, but simplicity is at its heart. To qualify as a minimalist landscape, the image has to have a limited number of elements.
For example, a typical minimalist landscape might be one of those long-exposure shots where the moving water has gone really blurry and there is just a single point of interest, such as a post poking out. Some, however, would just want the blurred water and the sky, with a horizon line acting as the glue to the composition.
Certain conditions, such as snow or mist, can lend themselves well to minimalist shots because, like longexposure blur on water, they help to remove fine detail from a scene. Some locations also favour the minimalist approach. Both coastal scenes and deserts can help you achieve a simpler composition: by their nature they are open spaces, with far fewer components to clutter and potentially confuse a composition. A simple silhouette, like the example shot here, can also create a minimalist landscape. There are two main shapes
– the blue sky and the black land – with just the tiny figure taking a selfie at the top of the hill acting as a focal point. Its simplicity of content makes it minimalist – then again, some people might say that the wisp of cloud is too much.
My point here is that it’s all down to interpretation; the judge of your photo competition will have a different opinion to me. Just keep your composition as uncluttered as possible, with lots of negative space.