Abstract photography should represent a concept or convey a particular message to the audience without revealing the specifics of the subject. The different elements in the picture may seem pointless by themselves, but they create a meaningful combination when together.

Photography can present a different perspective on the many objects we see daily. This change can influence how you perceive the full knowledge you have.

Pictorialism represents photography, as an art form, instead of purely scientifically representative pictures. This art form which has developed, resulted as an expression of creativity, stories, and concepts.

Albert Renger-Patzsch is a German photographer, well known for a shift in the presentation of his photographs. Instead of focusing on idealism, he focuses on the beauty of the modern world, capturing architecture and nature, the different elements in current times. From his artworks, Patzsch seems to prefer using identifiable items with lighting to convey his ideas or capture more abstract shapes and forms that he discovers in the world. Patzsch’s famous book, ‘The World is Beautiful,’ directly represents how his pictures are taken and his mindset and perspective regarding the world he sees, beautiful, as the title says.

Edward Weston developed himself as a successful artist, with his advancing skillset under pictorialism; however, he found himself unsatisfied with his artwork and sensed a shifting direction in the industry, increasing his exploration of a different perspective. His new ideas, the sharper take many began to utilize, were encouraged by his assistant, Margrethe Mather. Weston’s choices could result from his passion, in which he longed for a different expression of photography, but could also be an adaptation to the new industry.

Edward Weston’s artwork to the left is a picture he took in 1915; meanwhile, on the right is his famous piece, “Pepper No.30,” he shows his shift into straight photography.

 

 

 

 

 

Although well known for abstract Photography, Aaron Siskind is under the influence of ‘Straight Photography,’ he has adapted to capture recognizable figures, meanwhile giving them a story. This is different from some abstract photographs, which don’t convey a clear subject.

Both Uta Barth and Andreas Gursky’s work resemble abstract photography in that they create senses of illusion and focus on more than just the simplicity of the object itself. However, their photography depicts the objects clearly, making it somewhat similar to straight photography, but this wouldn’t make their artworks consistently in the standards of straight photography, but seem to have been influenced by them.

Photo Safari:

Some pictures focused on patterns instead of cohesive shapes and forms are easier to capture and therefore can present imagery similar to drawings. I particularly found images with defined lines and shapes harder to capture with my limited surroundings. This may be due to the lack of simple shapes within my area.

Photo Safari 12 pictures analysis on the contact sheet. (Open the link to view)