The definition of Abstract Photography is a type of image conceived or imagined outside of reality.

Some Examples of Abstract Photography:

All images by Albert Renger-Patzch

All images by Aaron Siskind

Pictorialism Photography Movement: The pictorialist movement was an active movement that thrived between 1885 and 1915, with centers in England, Frace, and the U.S. Pictorialism is an approach to photography that emphasizes the beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality. The promoter used a range of darkroom techniques to produce the images that allowed them to express their creativity, utilizing it to tell stories, replicate mythological or biblical scenes, and produce dream-like landscapes.

Example of Pictorialism Photography:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straight Photography Movement: Straight photography movement is the term that generally refers to photographs that are not manipulated, either in the taking of the image or by darkroom or digital processes, while depicting a scene or subject in sharp focus and detail. Straight photography emphasizes and engages with the camera’s technical capability to produce images that are sharp in focus and rich in detail. Straight Photography was popular with the photographers.

Example of Straight photography:

Frederick Henry Evans: 'A Sea of Steps', Wells Cathedral, Steps to Chapter House (1903)

Aaron Siskind :

Aaron Siskind (December 4, 1903 – February 8, 1991) was an American photographer whose work focuses on the details of things, presented as flat surfaces to create a new image independent of the original subject. He was the first photographer to combine straight-line Photography with abstraction

Andreas Gursky

 

Andreas Gursky is a German photographer. Andreas Gursky is considered an abstract photographer since he utilizes digital technology, which has led to an even greater emphasis on the conceptual elements of his work. Gursky maximizes the visual weight of patterns, colors, lines, and repetitive groupings of forms.

 

Uta Barth abstract: Uta Barth is a German-American photographer. Her work has focused on the act of looking, inverting the traditional figure and ground relationship to concentrate instead on images at the periphery. She is considered an abstract photographer since her photographs explore the nature of vision and the difference between how a human sees reality and how a camera records it.