https://johnpweiss.com/blog/183699/minimalism-and-the-art-of-photography * Home * About * Journal * Saturday Letters * Books * Contact * * * * * * * John P. Weiss * Home * About * Journal * Saturday Letters * Books * Contact * * * * * * * Blog 1/7/2023 4:47:14 PM Minimalism and the Art of Photography John P. Weiss / 7 Comments Topics: black and white photography | creativity | inspiration | Life lessons | Minimalism | Personal development | photography | self improvement | Simplicity | Wisdom Embrace the freedom of limitation by John P. Weiss [47118_4983] Photo by Conner Weiss I have a serious passion for classic black-and-white photography, and I blame my friend Sean in New Zealand. Sean runs a successful online business, and a few years back we connected over our mutual love for cartooning. Then Sean introduced me to his passion for photography. Particularly, black and white photography. Sean and I have never met in person. As much as I criticize social media for its predatory algorithms, mediocrity, and consumptive harm, I admit it makes things easier for like-minded people to meet, share passions, and collaborate. That's what happened with Sean and me. The simplicity and elegance of black-and-white imagery Before meeting Sean, I had little interest or experience with photography beyond the evidence photos I took in my law enforcement career, and the selfies and family shots we all capture on our smartphones. But I developed a growing appreciation for the simplicity and elegance of black-and-white imagery. And I trace that aesthetic predilection to three people: Jeremy Mann, Brian Gardner, and Joshua Becker. Jeremy Mann is a fine artist whose cityscapes and figurative oil paintings are produced with muted color and monochrome. I bought two of his figurative paintings to inspire me in my home office/studio. [1] My two Jeremy Mann paintings Jeremy builds his own Polaroid cameras to photograph models for his paintings. The photos are monochromatic with an ethereal quality I find pleasing. In a photography and film world full of razor-sharp focus, garish color, and clarity, there's something appealing about soft, desaturated, dreamlike images. American director Antoine Fuqua's beautifully filmed movie, Emancipation, is a good example of this. Brian Gardner is a Chicago-based designer, coder, and WordPress expert. We met online a few years back when I was designing my website. Brian is a minimalist who often favors black-and-white imagery and elegant fonts to create stunning websites. His aesthetic preferences rubbed off on me. Joshua Becker is an author, blogger, and leading voice in the minimalist community. He advocates for simplifying and decluttering your life, to focus on the things that matter most. I've read Joshua's books, and was honored to guest post on his website. His writings and advocacy helped me embrace minimalism in my life. Over the years Jeremy Mann, Brian Gardner, Joshua Becker, and others influenced my aesthetic tastes. I lost interest in the colorful landscape paintings I used to sell, and my cartoon illustrations moved to black and white or desaturated colors. Also, I loathed clutter, whether in my home or my creative life. I craved simplicity over complexity. Black and white over color. Serenity over noise. Peace over stress. I needed to unburden myself Many things in my life contributed to this personal and aesthetic evolution toward simplicity and minimalism. I retired from my law enforcement career after 26 years. I served as the chief of police for the last ten years. The position was rewarding but also complex and exhausting. After retirement, I sold my home and moved to a new state. Deaths in my family followed. I learned that change is inevitable, life is short, and decluttering one's life can lead to greater freedom to focus on important things. From a psychological standpoint, I needed to unburden myself. I sold much of my fine art gear, whittling everything down to a portable paint box (pochade box) and a few brushes and panels. I deleted all my social media posts and started anew with only black-and-white images. I began rediscovering my joy for creating detailed, whimsical black and white cartoons often sketched with a simple ballpoint pen. And then I bought a camera. I wanted to have more control over the images I was taking with my iPhone, so I picked up a Sony A6600 camera and a few lenses. The Sony was a perfectly capable camera, but the menus were complex and I grew tired of juggling multiple lenses. Also, the aesthetic design of the Sony camera didn't excite me. If your camera looks boring, you're less likely to use it. My friend Sean, a Leica camera aficionado, suggested I purchase the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera, which has a fixed 28mm lens, a simple menu, and takes exquisite photographs. It's a beautiful, elegant camera that is perfect for my photography needs and aesthetics. Unfortunately, it costs $6K. I wasn't ready to invest that much money in my new photography hobby, so I settled on a Fujifilm X-Pro 3, which looks similar to the Leica M cameras. Then, I bought one lens (a Fuji 35mm F2 prime) to go with the camera. The entire kit has an appealing, rangefinder style aesthetic. [0] My Fujifilm X-Pro 3 camera and Fujifilm 35mm F2 lens One camera, one lens. The entire kit is small, compact, unobtrusive, and perfect for my street photography. I took it to Scotland and Italy this year and had a blast. No juggling multiple lenses. The single 35mm lens on the camera is small and light, which I love. I tried other lenses at the camera shop, but many were too big or too long. The Fujifilm menu systems are a little better than the Sony system, but still not as elegant and simplified as the Leica system. But the more I use my Fuji X-Pro 3, the more familiar I become. [1] Photo taken in Scotland with my Fujifilm X-Pro 3 and 35mm F2 lens By adopting the one camera, one lens approach, I embraced the freedom of limitation. When I leave the house, I don't agonize over which lenses to take. I just grab the camera and go. Because I'm shooting with only a 35mm lens (which is the equivalent of a 50mm lens on an APSC camera), I'm forced to compose with only one prime lens. I have to get creative, and I like that. Not to mention, there is a consistency to the look of my images because they're all shot with one camera, one lens. During my exploration in Europe, I saw plenty of travelers and photographers lugging huge camera bags stuffed with multiple prime and zoom lenses. These folks would set down their bags and fiddle with their cameras, changing lenses, etc. While they were juggling, I was shooting. Less is more. The more a person limits himself, the more resourceful he becomes I typically set my Fujifilm XPro-3 camera to Acros mode, which is a black-and-white setting. That way, when I look through the viewfinder, everything I see is in black and white. It helps me to compose without the distraction of color. The XPro-3 has a hidden rear LCD screen. You have to flip it down to see it. This seemingly inconvenient feature is intentionally designed to force the photographer to use the viewfinder and take pictures, rather than endlessly check the images on the LCD (a habit known as "chimping"). Once again, less is more. "The more a person limits himself, the more resourceful he becomes."-Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher In this day and age of endless choices and variety, it's easy to become overwhelmed and exhausted. Sometimes we just want things to be simple. Uncomplicated. Predictable. A lot of photographers would improve their craft much faster if they spent less time studying and buying endless gear and focused instead of taking more pictures. Minimalism and the art of photography are about simplifying your gear down to the most essential so that you can create better art. At first, simplifying my gear down to one camera, and one lens felt like a huge limitation. But with it came tremendous freedom. I was shooting more, and having fun, too. Yes, there are professional, commercial photographers who require more gear. But even many of them prefer simplifying their kit for personal projects. People like noted photographer Peter McKinnon, who recently bought a Leica Q2 camera, and loves it for its simplicity. How about you? What would happen if you whittled your creative equipment down to the most essential? If you decluttered your life? How would you grow if you unburdened yourself from the weight of too much stuff? If you designed a life focused on making the most out of the least? What could you achieve and create if you embraced the freedom of limitation? You'll never know unless you try. (First published here) [4507200l] Want more? Get the latest creative work. Signup below for The Saturday Letters. [47118_2657] Privacy Policy & Legal Stuff Related Posts * The Limitation Advantage: How Narrowing Your Options Can Lead to Success * Eliminate One Thing to Improve Productivity and Happiness * How the Power of Simplicity Can Improve Your Life Share This Post * * * * * * * * * --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments 7 Responses to Minimalism and the Art of Photography [25d] Excellent post. I read Joshua Becker's The Minimalist Home a few years ago and it was life changing. Our children are grown with homes of their own and they've made it clear they don't want our stuff. So we started downsizing and it was an incredibly freeing feeling. Much of it went to charity and some we threw out. But I felt physically lighter afterwards! Posted by Sally Gallagher * via johnpweiss.com * 3 days ago [829] I find simplifying most every process or system helps me When I had lots of various usually craft tools they -mocked"? me with thoughts of -why aren't you using me more?"? I didn't need that imagined conversations cluttering my mind while I was crafting. Also, less quantity of supplies means I can spend my time doing and not in inventory shuffling I looked forward to your posts. Posted by Gail * via johnpweiss.com * 3 days ago [07d] John Yes, I agree. Less Best"| Especially with Photograhy. For the past eight years, my iPhone captured Nature's Finest. With these photos, I've exhibited twice, minor but MAJOR for me. -What kind of camera did you use?"? -What!! How did you do it?"? Though my dear daughter gave me a -Real"? camera, I continue with my iPhone. NOTE: MOP 2023 in Denver Month of Photography in March~ A Biennial Photography Celebration Please Continue Your Creative Life Celebrationd??? Posted by Linka To ol * via johnpweiss.com * 3 days ago [5c7] I enjoy READING about simplifying and decluttering your life because the minimalist philosophy seems quite liberating. To this end, the view that I established a long time ago about going in this direction was: first, if you are up to it, try to sell the better, more expensive stuff in your life; second, if you are not successful selling it, or again, just can't be bothered, well, what the heck, just give it away offering it to family and friends first, and what they don't want haul it over the the Goodwill, Salvation Army store, etc.; third, what those places won't take THEN throw it away. So, sell it, give it, toss it, in that order. Many years later I still have too much stuff. Yeah, well"| Posted by vikingz2000 * via johnpweiss.com * 2 days ago [6a2] From my reading of your articles, I discovered that you are using the expression"minimalism" in most of your articles and I was enjoying the content. I have the same thing dealing with this idea, and by watching your photos, I can assure you that you are in the right direction. Happy New Year. Posted by Mohammed Abuomar * via johnpweiss.com * 2 days ago [e92] John, so this is what happened when I really think about simplifying. I have sewing machines, 2 alike. I already passed on one to the mom of a family of girls, and 2 of 3 older girls I have found good machines for and for number 3 the machine didn't work out that I had found for her. So I still have 2 alike. Aha, I'm planning to see if my extra will work and my back up will be a 1953 featherweight Singer that is a fun little tiny machine. So point being, if I downsize things now when someone will enjoy and I get to watch, it is better for all! I was in on your original minimalism and have enjoyed your posts of a variety that all make me think. Please keep on and the Amos for reminding me it is ok to choose less with more creativity to make it work! Paula Posted by Paula * via johnpweiss.com * 2 days ago [1b1] Your commentary about minimalism is relevant to the life of individuals and also the survival of our planet, John. Although I am a lapsed, Anglican, and do not pay great attention to the Bible, I certainly appreciate one quotation from it: - the love of money is the root of all evil"?. If human beings had taken that seriously centuries ago, and not thought about getting and spending, making and buying things that ultimately have no great value for us, we would be living in a different world. 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