Minimalist Photography with Judy Hancock Holland

[Dave Humphries]

Hi all,

I just happened across this video in my YouTube suggestions tonight.



37 minutes.

I found that I had been unknowingly shooting the way Judy suggests for years (capturing the essence that attracted me to take the shot), just not always following through and editing, far less publishing the results.

I hope others find this, with many examples, useful.

All the best,
Dave

[Manfred M]

Thanks for posting this Dave. Definitely worth a watch as an introduction to minimalism.

It is an approach I use in my own work from time to time, but the subject and lighting have to be right. Judy had a few strong images, but most of them bring me back to a quote from Albert Einstein; "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.". He was writing about scientific theories, but the same argument can be made about photographs. Often when looking at minimalist images, I find that the problem with the shot is that the photographer did not know when to stop and went too far in minimalizing.

[billyb1191]

Wow, amazing video

[Dave Humphries]

Often when looking at minimalist images, I find that the problem with the shot is that the photographer did not know when to stop and went too far in minimalizing.

Yes, I know what you mean

[FootLoose]

Thanks for posting the link, Dave. I think her advice about determining what it is about a subject that attracts us before attempting to shoot is good general advice for all photographers.

[xpatUSA]

Thanks for posting, Dave.

It goes toward solving the riddle of where I live in what is basically woodland which at a glance is just a mess of distraction and absolutely not minimalist. For example, this is a shot of some Saw Palmetto plants:



Totally obscured by the clutter all around. The Teal and Orange look is because I took out the UV/IR blocking filter from the camera, hence it was a "full-spectrum" shot, similar to Ektachrome EIR.

Main point, if I get it, is that the essence of a Saw Palmetto plant is the fan-like appearance and I get the impression that a single frond or even a part thereof in combination with a highly blurred background (or none) would have been a) minimalist and b) far more effective!