Abstract Nature

This week, I came across an article on Outdoor Photographer by Justin Black that relates to some of my previous posts, particularly last week's post in which I discussed the battle between objectivity and art that has come to characterize photography in the digital age.  In his article, Black discusses abstract landscape/nature photography and how this particular category of photography allows us to see nature in a completely new and unobjective way.

Whereas Stephen Mayes, in his article "The Next Revolution in Photography is Coming," points to the loss of objectivity with the arrival of digital photography as perhaps a detriment to photography and our understanding of visual reality, Black stresses the importance of photography as an art form, as a way of expressing the world in a very subjective manner completely unlike our normal visual experience.  For Black, normal landscape photography, with all of its formulas and rules, is largely lacking in any creativity.  After all, how many shots of the Grand Canyon or of a picturesque mountain with a lake in the foreground or of an ocean shoreline at sunset have we all seen?

Abstract nature photography, on the other hand, requires the photographer to see something in a way that it is not usually seen.  It seeks to strip away characteristics of the subject or scene that are explicitly descriptive and that require no imagination to understand them.  In abstract nature photography, the goal is to completely decontextualize the subject so that a viewer is forced to interpret the subject for themselves.

Black gives some techniques for creating abstract shots.  One particularly common and effective one is to increase exposure times to create a blurring effect.  Another is to take several shots of the subject from different  angles and merge these shots into one final composition.  Black also points out that we often use color in order to identify objects so even when a subject may be completely decontextualized and there is nothing in the photograph to offer explicit clues as to the identity or meaning of the subject, color often allows us to distinguish the subject's identity.  Black suggests that sometimes making such shots black-and-white can help create an abstract shot.

In the end, though I think there is a definite beauty in and place for typical landscape photography, abstract nature photography presents unique artistic possibilities for a photographer.  The most appealing thing about abstract nature work is that you are never short on subjects to photograph.  Finding the perfect landscape and waiting for the perfect moment of light are challenges that do not have to be dealt with.  You don't have to look very far to find a subject, as just about everything you find in nature has the potential to make a compelling piece of art.

Link to Justin Black's article: https://www.outdoorphotographer.com/tips-techniques/nature-landscapes/abstract-landscape-photography/