minimalism Archives - Ghosts of Time

Photograms of the Year 1955: Minimalism, Pictorialism, Beauty, Art Nude or Cheesecake?

The first plate in the 1955 edition of Photograms of the Year is this photo of Suse Pressier by S Enkelman, Elsewhere the usual collection of close ups of faces in grotesque detail are still popular as are studies of young children we might consider ill-advised today though clearly popular not just in this annual publication but in all manner of photographic magazines and books of the time.

The Regents Canal by Alvin L Coburn is clearly inspired by pictorialism and could easily be mistaken for something produced in the early twentieth century.

Minimalism is also represented, for instance in Mist Morning by Chi-Wei Chang.

Of course female beauty is well represented and these portraits of Audrey Hepburn by Cecil Beaton and Serena by Thomas Petroff are portraits of the type we still see today.

When it comes to nudes, and what we would probably classify as “art nudes” these days, we see the influence of classical painting in Nymph by Walter Bird and Grecian Nocturne by Harold Kells. Nymph could easily pass as a study for a Russell Flint watercolour. Flint, who died in 1969, was himself influenced by classical paintings. Grecian Nocturne on the other hand might be seen as influenced by the paintings of Lawrence Alma-Tadema.

And finally we might want to reflect on when art nude becomes merely cheesecake. This Nude Study by W Mortensen seems to me to be more cheesecake than art, not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that but that depends where you stand as regards the “Male Gaze.”

Minimalism in Photography

Defining minimalism in photography is difficult although some general rules of thumb can be stated, such as have a simple subject, use lots of negative space, ensure distance between yourself and your subject. However people can be very picky about what can be labelled minimalist. Try posting on minimalist groups on flickr for instance and you’ll soon come across people who’ll tell you that you’re doing it wrong.

I’d argue that my photo at the top if this post is a minimalist photograph. However, is the next photograph minimalist or not?

It’s the same place (I’m obsessed with the ridge opposite my home) and it certainly uses lots of negative space but some would argue (and have argued) that this is a landscape photograph but not minimalist.

Again my camera is pointing in the same direction but zoomed in. Is this a minimalist photo or an abstract photo or another landscape?

Ask yourself the same questions about the photograph above.

I’m still looking in the same direction but pointing the camera at the sky to achieve this Rothko-esque image. I’ve not done any post production on this photograph, it’s exactly as it was taken.

This one’s water flowing over metal at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

And finally take a look at Rhine II by Andreas Gursky which sold at auction for over 4 million dollars and this photo was edited to take out a factory and dog walkers!