Abstract Images

[ntrolls]

I thought it would be interesting to collect abstract images. I personally like abstract images; I think it is a sub-genre of photography that is closest to traditional paintings in some way.

Just to start the thread, here's one from me

 

[Will]

Does this one fit the category?

 

[ntrolls]

Very much so, and a great one too!

Often I run into Flickr groups on "abstract" and they have a lengthy definition of what an abstract photo is. Personally I think it depends not only on whether you can identify the object or not, but also on how you treat the object. That is, you can choose to focus on abstract aspects of your subjects. I'd like to hear what people think about the definition of abstracts.

 

[grappa]

Maybe this one ?

 

[Lili]

What about a surreal treatment of an identifiable subject?

F31fd

 

[sizifo]

Here are 3. I don't have very many completely abstract photos, so 2 qualify as "surreal treatment of an identifiable subject".

 

[ntrolls]

Grappa : a great image indeed, very classy.

Lili : hmm, more of a Surrealist movement but nonetheless I love that!

Sizifo : I particularly like the first one (third image is very witty too).

Here's another one from me.

 

[smokysun]

it's said there are no straight lines in nature. fun, then, to abstract from it.

wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

Wayne, your sensor is going....

Seriously, I like it a lot! The colour palette reminds me of Kandinsky´s, but the composition is Smokysun all the way.

I know few people (in photography; it´s far more common among painters) who experiment the way you do, exploring an idea, sketching as it were, and coming up with a whole set of images that work as, just a set. Your Pbase site is like a (by now very big) sketchbook; one feels one can follow the whole process (an illusion, of course, but still...).

This one is different from what I´ve seen so far; I suppose we can look forward to a new album soon

 

[smokysun]

hi per,
good to hear from you! and thanks for the kind comments. it's a real pleasure for me to have you keeping track. i especially like the sketchbook idea. at 13 i consciously chose between being a writer and an artist (a bit precocious i know). i chose writing cause i didn't feel i could draw things realistically. despite that, i started taking photos at 14, and i spent the next fifty years in museums, always getting a thrill when i watched someone draw. finally, i felt i'd said all i had to say verbally and blessedly digital came along. a chance to go down the road not taken. we'll see what happens next. i've been taking pictures of clouds all day. i remember thinking that what really separated the best artists from others was their sense of abstract form, no matter the genre or style. hence, this thread an excellent idea.
thanks again,
wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

ps. and i do like kandinsky very much. have you ever seen the book on kandinsky and shamanism?

http://www.amazon.com/Kandinsky-Old...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219108406&sr=8-1

 

[TRSmith]

Lots of wonderful things in this thread. Nicely done everyone! Here's a recent experiment.

 

[Will]

Some really interesting images here now. Great idea for a thread ntrols.

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

hi per,
good to hear from you! and thanks for the kind comments. it's a real pleasure for me to have you keeping track. i especially like the sketchbook idea. at 13 i consciously chose between being a writer and an artist (a bit precocious i know). i chose writing cause i didn't feel i could draw things realistically. despite that, i started taking photos at 14, and i spent the next fifty years in museums, always getting a thrill when i watched someone draw. finally, i felt i'd said all i had to say verbally and blessedly digital came along. a chance to go down the road not taken. we'll see what happens next. i've been taking pictures of clouds all day. i remember thinking that what really separated the best artists from others was their sense of abstract form, no matter the genre or style. hence, this thread an excellent idea.
thanks again,
wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

ps. and i do like kandinsky very much. have you ever seen the book on kandinsky and shamanism?

http://www.amazon.com/Kandinsky-Old...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219108406&sr=8-1

Interesting. Speaking for myself, if I had been able to draw and paint half decent, I´m not sure I would have started with photography. But once started, one soon finds it is an entirely different language.

The Kandinsky book you link too looks interesting, but it´s horribly expensive... Actually, Kandinsky spent some time here in Stockholm in 1915, together with his partner Gabriele Munther; he even had a show here. So our Museum of Modern art has a few good paintings.

We had a Swedish painter, Hilma af Klint, who is often considered a precursor of Kandinsky´s spiritual abstractions. She never met Kandinsky afaik, and her art is quite different. Here is a link to a decent, English web page about her: http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART34427.html

OK, suppose I have to add some abstraction to keep to the theme... This was the first one I found in my archive (certainly no Kandinsky.. ).

 

[TRSmith]

a little manipulation.

 

[Will]

ooh I like that one TRS!

 

[Lili]

This is the coolest thread, wonderful shots here!
Wayne, you simply rock at this (sorry for the FanGirl gushing but its true)
Tim, those last two pictures are wonderful

 

[Lili]

Interesting. Speaking for myself, if I had been able to draw and paint half decent, I´m not sure I would have started with photography. But once started, one soon finds it is an entirely different language.

The Kandinsky book you link too looks interesting, but it´s horribly expensive... Actually, Kandinsky spent some time here in Stockholm in 1915, together with his partner Gabriele Munther; he even had a show here. So our Museum of Modern art has a few good paintings.

We had a Swedish painter, Hilma af Klint, who is often considered a precursor of Kandinsky´s spiritual abstractions. She never met Kandinsky afaik, and her art is quite different. Here is a link to a decent, English web page about her: http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART34427.html

OK, suppose I have to add some abstraction to keep to the theme... This was the first one I found in my archive (certainly no Kandinsky.. ).

Per I like that, intentional motion blur

 

[TRSmith]

Thanks Will and Lili!

 

[smokysun]

per,
i must confess i ran across the book in the university library. i paid almost that much for a book by sarah moon, but my usual limit is much lower and these days i'm trying to save money. hilma very interesting. with so many people doing photography and art now it will take a lot of time for the more obscure to rise to the surface. i do think digital has blurred the line between photography and painting. we're lucky to have lived to see it.

lili,
thanks for the fan-mail! believe me, it's always nice to get. this going between the visible and invisible has always interested me. long-time student of shamanism. (you might enjoy reading some of these: www.pbase.com/wwp/apple .)

best,
wayne
www.pbase.com/wwp

 

[Per Ofverbeck]

per,
i must confess i ran across the book in the university library. i paid almost that much for a book by sarah moon, but my usual limit is much lower and these days i'm trying to save money....

Well, during my "Ansel Adams/Edward Weston admirer" period, my limit had to be higher; I´ve grown more economical now :angel: But I did buy Michael Kenna´s Hokkaido book for a horrible sum a year ago... I like his images a LOT; guess one could call them "spiritual" as well; they´re very, very meditative.

Per I like that, intentional motion blur

Thank you, Lili! When I read what I had written abut Wayne´s way of "coming up with a whole set of images that work as a set", I did think of your ongoing project of "drive-by" images; they´re just as valid as an example. And, of course, folks like Gary Winogrand, and more recently, the much-missed-here Mitch Alland...

So, I was a bit off the mark when I said this way of working is scarce among photographers....