In this photo taken by Edward Weston, he focused on a vegetables and specifically explored the surface textures of this vegetable. I think he is interested in capturing the light and shadow on the subject, which applied to a lot of his other photos, he also had a lot abstraction shown in his works. It makes the viewer to see a subject from a fresh and interesting perspective. The lighting in this photo is very interesting, he used subtle lighting to a close up of cabbage leaf that made a soft affect on the photo, it really enhanced the tonal range of the cabbage leaf.

If I am the photographer of this photo, I will name it “A Cabbage Leaf” because this photo showed a focused cabbage leaf with clear lines, shapes, patterns, and textures in black, grey, and white.

In this photo, the line of the cabbage was showed very clearly by using the lighting and the close up shot. The patterns in this photo is isolated which make the viewer pay attention to the pattern and details in the image. There is a natural pattern of cabbage leaf in this photo, which was the main object of this picture, by using close up, he made viewers pay attention to the leaf’s details and intricacy. This texture in this photo has added visual complexity into this photo, the use of texture here really captured the viewer’s attention and emphasized the lines and pattern here. The tone in this picture enhanced the perception of the texture of the leaf, also emphasizes the tactile qualities and bring out the textures specifically. In this photo and most of his work, Edward often have a clear focus of the object, his clear focus and close up to the object makes the viewer to pay attention to specific elements, the texture and details. Also a lot of his work have isolated the main subject from the surrounding environment which really highlighted the intended focal point.

The Pictorialism Movement in photography is “an approach to photography that emphasizes beauty of subject matter, tonality, and composition rather than the documentation of reality”(From Britannica)

Pictorialism movement aims to produce a painterly style by manipulating light and using images to communicate emotions.

Photo from (widewalls.ch)

The straight photography movement is to take pictures of subjects without any editing. It emphasizes accurate composition, and focuses more on reality. It is popular amongst photographers because straight photography was to “capture a realistic, and unmanipulated representation of the subject.”

Photo from (theartstory.org)

Both Edward Weston and Aaron Siskind were photographers who were influenced by the Straight Photography Movement

After doing several researches, I found out Edward Weston is known for his precise and detailed black and white photographs, he uses the idea of straight photography by placing a strong emphasis on clarity, crisp focus, and a true portrayal of his subjects.

(Image from pinterest)

The work of contemporary photographers Andreas Gursky and Uta Barth can be considered abstract due to their exploration of non representational elements in their images. Andreas Gursky’s works captures recognizable subjects, such as buildings or crowds, and they often present them in a way that emphasizes patterns, repetition, and abstraction.

(photo fromn Yatzer.com)

Uta Barth’s work focuses a lot on the lightings and colors. She have a lot blurred or images that are out of focus, her works emphasize shapes, colors, lines, and textures and it creates abstracted photos.

(photo from Sitegallery.org)

In my opinion, Uta Barth may be pictorial because the images looks blurred and painterly, it has a soft focus, which gives a dreamy quality to the photo. Andreas Gursky, on the other hand, is more of straight photographer, in his works, it shows real things clearly and have a sharp focus that makes a precise composition. It also uses natural lightings instead of making adjustment on the tone of the pictures.

(Uta Barth, photo from tate.org.uk)

(Andreas Gursky, photo from theguardian.com)

I think that abstract photos are photos that don’t place emphasis on the subject, abstract photos focuses on examining the visual components of a subject, such as shapes, colors, lines, patterns, etc.

The statement “Abstract photography can be defined as capturing images in which the subject isn’t the most interesting element” means that in abstract, the focus is not on capturing a clear subject in the traditional sense. Instead, It emphasizes the use of shapes, colors, lines, textures, etc, to produce visually powerful pictures.