Minimalist photography is, as the name suggests, a photograph in which the components or elements in the photograph are a minimum. Often such photos are beautiful in their own way because of its intrinsic simplicity and slight air of unreality often associated with such compositions. Usually, but not necessarily always, a minimalist photo is made when a uniform background is available. That background could be water, fog, sky, snow, clouds, and so on.

   This photo on the left was taken in January 2020 when my camera and I spent nine days driving around Death Valley in CA. Most of Death Valley comprises rocky mountains, wide valleys, and at least one large crater. There is one place called Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes covering an area of about six square miles. This photo was taken early one morning when the sun was just skimming over the sand on the slope of a large dune. Again, the simplicity and starkness of the scene appealed to me, with the ripples in the sand made clearly visible by the sun. The details of the vegetation appearing out of the sand is made more clear by the pool of darkness around the bushes.

Once more, the simplicity of the spider sitting in his web appealed to me. The grass on the right is a crucial element and yet is a very elegant arc used to support the web. In a photo like this it is vital to align the plane of the elements (spider, web, grass) with the plane of my camera's sensor to ensure all the elements are in focus. (When taking close up photos the 'depth of field,' the portion of the image that is in focus, is very narrow. For an image like this one, the depth of field probably wasn't more than quarter of an inch). Once more, the uniform background serves to isolate the subject very well, and enables all the spider's details and web to be seen. Almost certainly, if I had taken this photo against a vegetation background, the web would have disappeared.

  Getting up early one morning when visiting Door County in north-east Wisconsin, I came across this fisherman at work. It was a foggy morning and the way the water blended with the background appealed to me. The fact that the fisherman appears almost in silhouette adds to the simplicity of the photo. The way the fisherman and his boat appear in the scene adds a magical quality to the scene as they appear to be almost suspended in space. The minimalist photo adds to the sense of peace and tranquility to the fisherman's activity.

Finally, here's another minimalist photo taken in Florida on a photo trip in 2018. The light just caught these few water lilies nicely. The deep blue water of the lake forms a nice contrast to the lilies. Interest is enhanced by the fact that one or two of the lilies are on the surface whilst the rest are below the water. Simple, elegant, serene!

(As always, all these blog photos are elsewhere in this site in the "Blog Photos" section).