Very Abstract Images

A Soft Polaroid Abstract, 2012

There is abstract…then there is very abstract. The above is in the “very” class. I think there is also a “very, very” class that exists as well. 

Sometimes it is fun to take it that extra step and try something really different.

What makes a great Very Abstract image? Heck, I have no idea, really. I think it mainly has to do with its success in provoking some sort of reaction or emotion from the viewer. If it does that consistently for a number of viewers, it is probably a successful image. If, however, most viewers look at it and yawn, then it is probably just an ugly, weird, gimmicky picture. So, it’s something you feel in your gut.

Here, I just had a pop-up memory of a great quote I heard at a photography workshop last year: “What is modern fine art photography? Weird sh*t that doesn’t sell.” This probably applies to most abstract photography as well.

So, how does my example stack up? I really don’t know. I personally like the composition and the color palette–I have sort of a warm, fuzzy, happy, emotional reaction to it. I think that upper right corner, though, doesn’t have a lot going on, so it’s not perfect. It might look pretty good, though, as a huge 8′ x 10′ panel in some modern apartment in NYC.

How did I create it? Well, the truth is that it was a mistake. I accidentally hit the shutter button as I was raising the camera up to the tripod plate. I decided not to erase the image when I saw it on the LCD as it seemed more interesting than the average blurry mistake. Is it worth less as an image if it was born out of error? Hmmm…That I’ll save for another blog topic as it applies to all kinds of images, not just abstracts!

You can actually practice certain types of random abstracts if you so desire. Try using a slow shutter speed and twirling the camera this way and that while aimed at some colorful object or objects, like flowers or city lights for instance. Try moving the camera up and down…abruptly…slowly…in squares…in circles…whatever you can think of. And hey, how about setting the timer on the camera so that it clicks the shutter at the apex of a tumbling toss into the air!? There is actually a name for that: kinetic photography. And check out Mike Larson’s web site for a nice example of this while you’re at it.

Now, if you want something a little less random, less gimmicky, less kinetic (more “down-to-earth”, so to speak?), and something that tends slightly more toward serious artistic inspiration, try looking at these John Paul Caponigro images here, or Jerry Uelsmann. Those two will definitely get your little creative gray cells hopping.

Now go out and be abstract, oblong, and have your knees removed!