I don’t know why, but a lot of times I find photos with minimalist subjects to be some of my favorites. When I see one subject in the photo it often leaves me to wonder what the artist was thinking by not including any other elements. Does he only want to convey one thing? Perhaps he or she is leaving it up to our imaginations for what the image means. Or perhaps there is a more complex relationship between the subject and the space around it. I have started to develop a little more vision for minimalist type photos.
The image above is one I took on Saturday. The vent fan is the subject. It is surrounded by negative space, in this case it’s the sky. There is a relationship between the vent fan and the air, as well all know. The wind blows, turns the fan, which in turn pulls warm air from the attic and vents it out to the sky. But the beauty is we can’t see this action. It is left to our imaginations what is actually going on. The fan was turning slighty when I pressed the shutter, but I decided to not trying to capture the motion. Here I want you to wonder if the vent fan is fulfilling its purpose.
The above image was also taken on Saturday. This is one of a pair of sandals that my puppies got their teeth into early into their lives at my house. I have no idea where the right sandal is anymore, but that’s beside the point. Here we have the one subject that, rather than be surrounded by negative space, is shown surrounded by grass. Here I wanted to show the sandal in its permanent environment as part of the outdoor dog-toy collection. The shoe itself is all but forgotten, as the puppies moved on to chewing other toys, leaving this one in solitude. But if you realize that if I hadn’t told you the story behind why this lone shoe is sitting in the grass, you could be left to wonder… did something horrible happen? Did somebody lose their shoe? Is this a testimony on the wastefullness of some people. There are a number of questions as to why it’s there and the grass, although not part of the subject, adds to the mystery of the lone shoe.
As my vision evolves I’m starting to think about the relationships between elements more and more. It’s interesting what our mind’s eye can come up with sometimes.
Any comments, suggestions, or critiques are welcome.