This week, show us your minimalist photos.
An artfully executed minimalist photograph is anything but mundane. It illustrates a moment in time, or an artistic perspective, with simplicity and grace.
Minimalist photography is characterized by a large portion of negative space, a fairly monochromatic color palette with good contrast, and an interesting subject that is able to stand on its own to capture the interest of the viewer. At first thought, it may seem like it would be easy to shoot an engaging minimalist photograph, when indeed it can often be the opposite. A minimalist photo can also effectively tell a story, in spite of its relative simplicity, and it is anything but “plain”.

Tiny hands, tremendous love. A minimalist portrait by Jen Hooks.
In this week’s challenge, show us your minimalist photos. Find an interesting texture, color, or silhouette. Maybe there is a story that you can tell with your minimalist photo. Try an interesting angle with your composition to turn a traditional scene into a minimalist one, by eliminating as much of the extra detail in the background as possible. Make sure you’ve got good contrast, and your focus is nailed on the part of the photo that is telling the story, such as the tiny hand in the photo above.
Remember, minimalist doesn’t equate to mundane. Sometimes the simplest photographs make the boldest statements.
How adorable, Jen. Super photo. Off to look for my entry.
janet
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Love the pic
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It’s hard to take minimalist picture that speak. Yours is excellent. Here is mine, Hong Kong in monochrome tone – hope that justifies.
http://indahs.com/2014/11/10/monochrome-monday-hong-kong/
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Love this photo! Looking for my photo now.
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It’s the simple things in life that count. http://retirenicaragua.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Here is my photo: http://solaner.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Really cool! Love those colors, and great lighting.
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Thanks, Jen!
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Wonderful! My cup of tea, I’d say.
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it sure is Tobias!
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Here’s my version of “minimal”: http://empireoflights.com/2014/11/07/a-minimal-glimpse-at-hamburg/
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My entry this week: http://esengasvoice.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Oh I like this. Probably be greedy and post two photos… http://ambitiousdrifter.com/2014/11/07/a-tiny-exploding-sun/
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And a cafe so cool it’s icy…. http://ambitiousdrifter.com/2014/11/07/minimal-decor-maximum-cool/
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I especially love the cafe photo…a wonderful example of photominimalism!
And I think your top photo may be the remains of a passionflower?
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alas no, they’re one of my favourites. I think it’s a cousin of the dandelions that are all over here.
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Nice one! Iphone crashed yesterday so my workflow is a bit interrupted, but I might have it up later to add some minimalism
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PS the photo is gorgeous!!!
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Thank you, Chris! He is a fun subject to photograph.
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Wow, today’s challenge is very original and challenging too! Here’s the most minimalist response I could come up with:
http://maraeastern.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
What do you think? Have an awesome weekend!
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Hi Mara! It is indeed a minimalist photograph. Well done! I find it especially compelling because of the wrought-iron detail on the window, in an otherwise rather stark photo. Great job!
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You picture is a delight. Mine is very different. http://chittlechattle.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Thank you for the kind words. 🙂
Your photo would be even more minimalist if you got a bit closer to the arrow painted on the ground (I assume that is your intended focal point,) and composed the photo such that it included a lot of asphalt negative space, and featured the arrow in the bottom right portion of the photo.
A great choice! Thanks for participating.
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perfect topic for how i have been feeling – http://words4jp.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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A very lonesome-feeling photo, indeed.
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Thank you. It is pretty dank. For not much to see, it is full of so much meaning.
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I think this is minimalist enough http://bopaula.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/photography-101-solitude/
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I actually considered taking a photo of a lone blueberry as well! I love the color. Well done.
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here’s my entry
http://wp.me/p2ddEF-1v3
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A minimalist photo of minimalist art! How very meta. 🙂
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Thanks Jen!
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Tough one this week!
Here are my 3 suggestions:
http://sfchapman.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Oh my goodness, the photo of the reflective ball simply makes my photominimalist-loving heart sing. Thank you!
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Beautiful image and well composed.
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Thank you for your kind words.
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Terrific prompt: http://castelsarrasin.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Thank you, Sandra! And thank you for the photos. (I also love the pansies – or are they violas? in your header image.)
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You might think that indigenous desert living was ‘minimalist’. Think again. http://scillagrace.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Yucca is always fun to photograph; so many interesting textures and contrasts. Spiky, firm leaves, but these wispy little curls are anything but. Nicely done!
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Thanks, Jen! Great tutorial, and your example is precious!
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Stunning shot! And love the theme…
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Thank you, so much!
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Took me a while, but finally got a photo up – one of my faves, so very happy to be pushed in this direction 🙂
http://followyournose.me/2014/11/09/minimalist/
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of course, one you say “negative space”, you’re practically obligated to follow it with “wedgie.”
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Dug one out the archives:
http://sjpaigephotography.com/2013/06/14/still-life/#jp-carousel-37
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Ah, lovely.
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interesting challenge 🙂
http://theeclecticeccentricshopaholic.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/minimalist/
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Flounders! Interesting. 🙂
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Sweet photo, and a great theme for the week.
Found a minimalist location in downtown Frankfurt, Germany…
http://mattvonp.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Thank you very much. 🙂
I can feel the quietness of this place in your photo. Nice job!
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Thank you Jen. 🙂
It actually felt like noone would ever hear me scream there…
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This is great. The shading and dark colors are very expressive.
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Thank you, glad you like it!
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Here we are:
http://autopict.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Indeed very, very minimalist! What is this shot of?
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Thanks. This one is from last saturday I think, two planes, like a race on the same way. The second was a bit faster, but I couldn’t see the end of this ‘race’. I followed them along the whole sky It’s a series of 5 or 6 photos, and first I wanted to blog the one with more live on it, then I saw this theme. Perhaps the next days the ‘maximalist’ ! 😉
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A couple of minimalist photos from a house party where I was a photographer last weekend:
http://cardinalguzman.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/wpc-minimalist-cirka-loka-hallokween/
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Very nice. Always a pleasure, Cardinal!
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Great topic.
Here is my entry for this week! ENJOY!
http://ceenphotography.com/2014/11/07/wordpress-weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Wonderfully done, every time, Cee!
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Great composition!
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Here’s mine…http://steve-says.net/2014/11/07/an-amazing-ear-or-something-a-else/
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Very interesting, Steve! I’d love to see a version of this where you capture one of her eyes and the ear in the same frame, with more whitespace above and to the left of the kitty.
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Thank you jen. This is the closest ive got for that http://steve-says.net/2013/09/13/on-the-inside/
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Ah, YES. That’s even better than what I was picturing in my mind.
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That’s actually one of my favourite pictures. I’ve got it framed and it is hanging up in my kitchen. Glad you like it, that means a lot to me.
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Solitary at sunrise:
http://stephaniemartinglennon.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Ah, this is stunning.
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Oh … now I need to take the thinking cap on. *smile – brilliant topic and a fantastic image.
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Thank you so much for your kind words.
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Nice weekend, everybody.
http://wp.me/p1ZuYK-151
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This is so lovely! I would love to see a version of this where you crop in tight to the water droplet, and have more negative gray space to the bottom left of the focal point.
Well done.
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Thank you. 🙂
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A Door, Nothing More
http://imayagination.com/2014/11/07/a-door-nothing-more/
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I’m in love with the textures and contrast in this one. Superb!
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Thank you so much Jen!
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Simple http://photoottawa.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/weekly-photo-challenge-minimalist/
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Well done, thank you!
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