Abstraction Photography - The Guide
A dandelion, backlit by sunset, at Barkers Creek Reservoir in Australia.
Abstraction photography is great fun. Here's how a creative approach energized my passion for abstract photography.
Abstraction is achieved once the subject is no longer recognizable as a person, tree, rock or flower. The most artistic form of expression, abstraction allows the photographer to take the viewer into a world outside of their normal, everyday experience.
There are three distinct ways by which we can approach our own photography and describe or deconstruct photos made by others.
As an introduction I would define these three approaches to the making and appreciation of photography as follows:
Realism in photography
Realism aims to record or document what the photographer sees at the time of making the image, in camera.
Suggestion in photography
Suggestion explores the photographer’s ability to suggest how they feel about what they see.
That concept is evident in the above photo I made of a dandelion, backlit by sunset, at Barkers Creek Reservoir in Australia.
Abstraction in photography
Abstraction allows photographer and viewer to move beyond the constraints of object towards notions, transformations and revelations beyond our normal everyday experience.
The path from realism to suggestion and, finally, onto abstract photography is at the heart of the creative journey.
For most folks the notion of documenting reality, as a way to tell a story, is where the journey begins.
But you may well discover that abstraction is the path that allows you to explore your own creative nature at a deeper and more intimate level.
Realism in photography. Portrait of young boy on Saint Thomas Mount, Chennai.
Realism in Photography
Realism, at least in relation to photography, can be described as a relatively straight rendering of the subject or scene in question.
Realistic photos are often made as a way to share and help remember important moments associated with the person, place, event or day in question.
Photojournalists are, primarily, concerned with recording the so-called reality of the subject or scene in question and the function of realistic photographs is to record what the photographer sees at the time of making the image.
It follows then that depicting the subject in a recognizable and descriptive manner is the key when working within the realm of realism in photography.
You can see that’s the approach I undertook when making this black and white portrait of a young boy in a children’s home on Saint Thomas Mount on the outskirts of Chennai.
Whether it’s a relatively straight rendering of the subject or scene depicted or a more adventurous or creative approach is fine.
What’s important is to understand that this kind of image is usually made as a way to help remember and share important moments associated with the people, place, event or day in question.
Imagine you’re taking a Photography 101 approach to making photos. You'd probably be concerned with making photos that served to record elements with the world around you as accurately as possible.
This approach would concentrate, primarily, on achieving a realistic rendering of the subject or scene you were photographing.
A photo of Little Johnny smiling, on his sixth birthday, should serve to describe the subject in question on that special day.
That’s exactly the kind of realism most parents would want to see in the photographs you create.
Mind you, as folks gets older, many prefer a more stylized and airbrushed appearance thanks to social media and software applications like Adobe Photoshop.
I’m suddenly reminded of those old hand-color portrait photos of years gone by. They were actually black and white photos that retouching artists would add color to, via pencil or ink.
They were beautiful, but they were also quite stylized and you won’t see too many wrinkles on the faces of people who’d posed for portrait photos in those days.
In a way hand-colored photos were yesterday’s equivalent of those heavily (Photoshop) retouched portrait and fashion photos that are so popular today.
Nonetheless, the concept of realism in photography remains an important approach to documenting many of today’s major celebratory events.
It’s important to recognize the value of these photos which, over time, become a kind of time capsule.
Historically it’s been the case that the inherent emotional value of portraits increases with time.
Needless to say wedding and portrait photographers generally work to produce a pleasing likeness of their subject so as to elicit a positive response from the subject and their family.
The logic being that the better you look, the happier you’ll be and the more you’ll be prepared to pay. Right?
Realism in Sports Photography
But expectations are different in other areas of people based photography where a more strictly adhered to documentary form of realism is often expected.
Sports photography explores a range of emotions, not all of them positive. That’s because, by it's very nature, sports photography is about both winners and losers.
Candid street photography of a merchant at the Floating Markets near Bangkok.
The Reality Of Street Photography
Likewise street photographers and photojournalists are often more concerned with the story unfolding, in front of their lens, than with what their subject might consider to be a pleasing likeness of their face or body.
Street photographers are often more concerned with recording the dance of life, as it happens, rather than with the way the subject's face looks at the moment the camera's shutter is tripped.
That's not to say that people are incidental in the world of street photography. They’re often integral to the composition and also to the story or theme being explored.
However, with the exception of character driven portraits, people are often recorded as anonymous figures in street photography.
Their value within the frame has more to do with composition, movement and gesture than with their own, individual identity.
Yet, despite this loss of individual identity, the human form can become iconic within the bounds of the still image.
Photojournalists and documentary photographers are generally not concerned with whether the subject depicted, or their mother, is likely to buy the image.
Photojournalists, in particular, make images for a much larger market and are, therefore, much more interested in exploring the following:
However, photos don’t always fit neatly into one particular category. But that’s part of the charm of photography and part of the mystery of this most engaging visual art form.
Let’s examine this image of a merchant selling produce from a canoe at the Floating Markets near Bangkok in Thailand.
It’s a lovely image and, on first impressions, it probably looks like a pretty realistic representation of what you’d expect to see visiting this particular market.
In fact I found it to be a hot and frantic place where I’d been followed around and hassled, for a good ten minutes, by a women trying to sell me a jar of yellow Tiger Balm.
Fortunately photography has it’s own truth, its own reality that exists within the moment and within the bounds of the camera’s viewfinder.
That’s the reality I feel I’ve been able to produce in this image.
Frankly, much of what I put up with to make my photos on that particularly day wasn’t all that pleasant.
But that’s just back story which, more often than not, fades over time.
At the end of the day it’s the photograph that matters most and, if you want your audience to view your images for more than a moment, your photos need to be beautiful.
And that’s true for any kind of photo, even those that deal with death and adversity.
In this case I opted for a nostalgic impression by converting the original color file into a warm tone, black and white image.
The photo does not accurately express the negative aspects associated with my trip to the Floating Markets.
However, I did want to make really beautiful photos and I worked really hard to do so.
There were a number of quite tender and expressive moments I witnessed while photographing from a canoe or from the either side of the canal.
That’s what I wanted to record, for posterity, and I believe I managed to do just that.
That’s an approach you wouldn’t expect to see in straight photojournalism. But documentary photography is often more closely linked to fine art photography.
Usually being self motivated and, more often than not, self funded the documentary photographer is more likely to create images in line with their own vision and creative outcomes.
Classifications can be somewhat illusive but, for the sake of this discussion, I think it’s reasonable to say that the kind of street photography I do fits into the fine art documentary genre.
All in all I’d say this image looks realistic, yet it’s suggestive of times gone by.
Existing, somewhere and somehow, between these two different approaches to photography is, to my mind, why the image works.
Landscape photography showing a protective barrier around a tree on Huangshan, China.
Approaches To Landscape Photography
While usually residing in traditional notions of beauty, landscape photography can be a catalyst to explore a variety of environmental and sustainability issues.
And it was environmental themes that were foremost in my mind when I made this landscape photo.
As you can see it depicts a protective barrier that’s been placed around a beautiful snow covered tree on a high, windswept pass on Huangshan (i.e., Yellow Mountain) in China.
In this case I opted for a black and white rendering to emphasize important elements of composition such as line, shape and texture.
You see I feel there's little point in making straight forward images of denuded forests to illustrate human kinds destructive capabilities.
That's because, after the initial shock value associated with such photographs, most folks will simply more on to more pleasing images.
My view is that a far better approach is to photograph such depressing subject matter in a way that explores dualities such as the following:
It's juxtapositions such as these that encourage the viewer to study the image more closely and, as a result, consider the issues explored at a deeper level.
At the very least, if you want your audience to see the beauty that exists either side of that destruction, make your photos either early or late in the day when the light is warm and soft.
The beauty of the light will help your audience appreciate the forest that was and also the potential for rehabilitation of the environment on both a local and global level.
It's also my view that human kind will not completely destroy nature, though our actions have the potential of causing nature to destroy us.
Water abstractions off the coast of Prior Island near South Georgia Island.
Photographing Water Abstractions
Take a look at this abstract image formed on water off the coast of Prion Island near South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
I love this kind of abstract landscape photography.
I made the image on the way back to the ship participants and I were sailing on during a special photography tour of Antarctica I co-ran.
We’d barely climbed into the zodiac inflatable boat and begun our short journey back to the ship when I felt the need to turn around to explore a water level view of Prion Island.
I immediately realized the image that needed to be made was not of the island or, for that matter, of the seals and elephant seals swimming around us.
The photo I needed to make was of the wonderful, abstract patterns and swirling shapes that had formed on the surface of the water.
Thankfully a few seconds were all I needed to make this abstract landscape photograph.
That was fortunate as this transitory scene consisting of water abstractions disappeared a few short moments after it had formed.
Suggestion Meaning for Photographers
The word suggestion often refers to an idea that's put forward for consideration.
However, in the context of photography, we might think of suggestion as a subtle way by which to hint or refer to something other than what's immediately evident.
I love that concept because, ultimately, meaning should be left up to the viewer and not imposed upon them by the photographer.
A photo is what it is because it contains quite recognizable and, sometimes, indisputable facts.
For example the subject matter in a landscape photo might contain recognizable objects such as trees, rocks or flowers.
But imagine if that photo was made in such a way to cause the viewer to think beyond what they see and, as a consequence, consider how they feel about that, at a deeper and more profound level.
This notion is at the heart of fine art photography.
We’re no longer simply talking about looking at the representation of objects in space, within the bounds of a two dimensional photograph.
This will encourage the viewer to think about issues, memories and possibilities, as well as pointing towards meanings and metaphors, beyond that which is normally associated with the subject matter in question.
A more creative approach can be introduced on the desktop, possibly with an even greater departure from reality.
It’s good to remember that even the humble black and white photo is a significant departure from reality, as the human eye and brain perceive it.
The power of suggestion in photography. La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
the Power Of Suggestion in Photography
I often find that, rather than relying purely on realism to tell a story, utilizing the power of suggestion can produce a far more interesting image.
What I refer to as suggestion involves a more creative approach to making photos.
As you can see successful photos that explore the power of suggestion often exhibit a mysterious or spiritual quality and elicit a strong emotive response from the viewer.
Take a look at this very surreal photo that, through the use of reflection, displays the face of Jesus in the sky above the magnificent La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In this case the subject matter is still recognizable, but photographed in such a way to cause the viewer to think about issues, memories and possibilities beyond that which is immediately evident.
Freed from mere documentation the photographer is now able to expand the representation of the subject or scene to include how they felt about it at the time of making the photo.
This notion is true when creating the image, in camera, and/or when post processing the image on the desktop.
The more you explore creative techniques, both in camera and on the desktop, the more likely you’ll be to explore the power of suggestion in the photos you create.
Abstraction in photography evident in circles of light made by camera movement.
Creating Abstract Art Photography
Perhaps the most artistic form of expression, abstraction allows the photographer to take the viewer into a world somehow outside of their normal, everyday experience.
Abstraction is arrived at once your subject is no longer recognizable as a tree, rock, flower, etc. That’s a concept that I’m always interested in exploring in my own photography.
Imagine certain compositional elements (e.g., color, line, shape, balance, repetition, pattern) within the scene are so dominant in the composition that they become the actual subject matter of the image.
For example, the viewer may notice circles before recognizing that they are caused by stones being thrown into the water.
The light abstraction above is another example of this idea.
I moved the camera, in a circular motion, during a 10-second long exposure to create the circles of colored light you see.
The reality that folks around me saw was a huge tree decorated by Christmas nights in the seaside town of Point Lonsdale in Australia.
However, by taking a creative approach to making the image, a totally unique photo was created based upon abstraction.
Abstraction in Photography
Abstraction allows the artist to render the world in a way somewhat differently to how it would normally be perceived.
They are many ways by which you can explore abstraction in your photography and, in doing so, create images that depart from reality, as we perceive it, in the most interesting ways.
A few examples of how to create abstract photos include the following:
Obscuring or eliminating detail by putting the scene severely out of focus.
Creative blur to emphasize an important element within the frame (e.g., flowing water) by obscuring details so as to create a mystical or ethereal effect.
Rendering the image quite light or dark, often in the service of enhancing mood.
Photographing from extreme (i.e., birds eye or worms eye) viewpoints.
Close-up or macro photography.
Photographing the primary subject against a much brighter background so as to render the subject in silhouette.
Using an extremely wide-angle lens in such a way that exaggerates the sense of perspective between important visual elements within the image.
Abstract Photography Ideas
Perhaps the most artistic form of expression, abstraction allows the photographer to take the viewer into a world somehow outside of their normal, everyday experience.
With the subject matter no longer recognizable the viewer is free to respond to the image as they see fit.
There is, perhaps, no better example of the three way relationship between subject, viewer and photographer than what occurs through abstract photography.
All three are partners and all play a part in determining how the photo is read and understood.
The key understanding about abstraction is that the object being photographed no longer needs to be recognizable.
That means we no longer need to name, identify or place a label onto it.
The subject of your photograph is now dominated by other concerns, including the following:
Composition
Mood or feeling
Message
Metaphor
Meaning in an Abstract Photo
With the actual subject matter within the scene no longer recognizable in an abstract photo the viewer is free to respond to the image as they see fit.
Ultimately, the concept of meaning, in art, belongs with the audience.
The photographer may have a particular story, message or theme that they want to communicate.
However, it’s important to understand that, the more an image moves towards abstraction the more open to interpretation it becomes.
So, while I want to encourage experimentation, I also have to emphasize the point that, just like beauty, meaning is in the eye of the beholder.
That means when we put your images out there into the big, wide world you have to be prepared for the variety of ways in which those photos might be interpreted and the meaning which other people may derive from them.
Responses, from one person to the next, will likely vary depending upon a range of influencing factors, including the following:
Mood
Age
Gender
Religion
Cultural background
Life experiences
The photographer may have a particular idea, message or theme in mind when they make a particular image.
However, it’s important to understand that, the more an image moves towards abstraction, the more open to interpretation it becomes.
But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Do you?
While I want to encourage experimentation, I also have to emphasize the point that, just like love, meaning is in the eye of the beholder.
Photography And Ego
Photos are like children. They come from us, but they have a life of their own. Ultimately, we have to let them go so that they can find their own way in the world.
And they’ll do so through the relationships, many of them fleeting, that they’ll form with who ever takes the time to interact with them.
Because our photos come from us, they are an outward expression of who we are.
That’s probably why we feel a need to keep control of the story that’s behind the making of that photo, what it’s about and how important it’s place in the world is.
But that’s only one reality which, in my case, was formed in the mind of a middle aged, caucasian Australian.
I doubt that’s the only reality that matters.
Where Does Truth Reside In Photography?
You were there when you made your favourite photo. As the creator of that image you own it, and the experience of making that image, in a way no one else can.
However, the notion of truth goes beyond mere factual documentation.
Ultimately, how you felt when you made the image in question is less important than how your audience feels when they see it.
We photograph for ourselves but, if you want to play on a bigger stage, you need to be aware of the power of the photograph to elicit an emotional response from your audience.
In our post modern world that response is, very much, in the eye, mind and heart of each individual member of your audience.
to Be Or Not To be an Instagram Influencer?
The exact nature of their emotional response and what the image actually means to them is important.
However, your photos first need to elicit a response and, of course, you need to get your images out there and find a way for them to stand out from the crowd.
To that end I believe how you go about making your images is as important as what it is you photograph.
To make truly meaningful photos you need to explore your own inspirations, motivations and desired outcomes.
But it’s rarely a linear approach. Most folks don’t go out knowing exactly what and how to make photos in line with their own, particular world view.
For most of us the best approach is to make some photos, think about them and continue to make photos following an ever evolving philosophy.
Be aware that it’s not simply a matter of rinse and repeat.
Photos look both ways. They are both windows onto the world and mirrors that reveal the creative being inside us.
Real artistic growth comes through continually analyzing your photos in such a way that allows them to tell you about yourself, your motivations and your concerns.
Personally I’m not all that interested in seeing a recipe driven image of a so-called influencer wearing a floppy hat in the landscape on Instagram.
How To Create More Meaningful Photos
I want to see and make photos that go beyond surface impressions. I want to make meaningful images, and I’m sure you do to.
It’s our own, individual world view that needs to speak through the photos we made. Stay true to yourself and people will see the authentic nature that underpins the photos you make.
Be assured that your audience will find a way to understand the meaning contained within those photos that best aligns with their own needs at the time.
Our job then is to make more images and release them into the world. And so the cycle continues.
One way to dramatically improve your photography is to, occasionally, move away from your normal approach to making photos.
My advice is to think about the notion of suggestion and, every now and again, employ a more creative approach and push towards abstraction when making photos.
For safety it’s a good idea to make your usual, reality based images first. But then, once you've got those photos in the can, it's time for your creativity to shine through.
I encourage you to explore abstraction in photography through the production of visually interesting and creative images.
It’s very much my hope that this special guide has given you some ideas for how you can go about doing just that.
