Abstract landscape photographers

FerruB · Mar 23, 2018

hi,

any particular photographer name pop up in your mind with abstract landscape? Preferably B&W film only.
for a project I have in mind I am looking for some inspirations. So far I only found Ray Metzker Landscapes...

Cheers,
Ferru

guangong · Mar 23, 2018

I do not understand the question. What do you mean by “abstract?“. Is what you have in mind the photographs of the Futurists and early Soviet photographers or some of the Weston landscapes?
In a larger sense, from my perspective every landscape whether photographed or painted is a kind of abstract.
We are more interested in just what the concept of “abstract” means to you.

removed account4 · Mar 23, 2018

hi ferrub
i had never heard of Ray Metzker before
thanks for the name !
not sure who else fits the bill
you might look at others from the
1950s modernist era ( mr siskind comes to mind )
i have a feeling many people have done that sort of work
but only a few have gained a reputation from it.

FerruB · Mar 23, 2018

Abstract to me is a kind of added value to a picture. A picture of a tree can be just a picture of a tree....but, for example, the pepper picture of Edward Weston is more than just a pepper.

Futurist photographers seem to focus more on portraits, do you know any futurists landscaper?
I appreciate Brett Weston landscapes, and yes I think they are in a way abstract.

Cheers

Billy Axeman · Mar 23, 2018

The problem with most photographers is that they don't look beyond their own small world and when you search for 'abstract photography' it's almost 100% crap. There is only a tiny percentage of photographers who know how to make an abstract photo [1][2]. The best way to understand this concept is to study what abstract painters are doing [3][4].

[1] List of photographers (abs = abstract)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographers
[2] jnanian
Dead Link Removed

[3] Abstract art
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_art
[4] Sandra Blow
https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...sandra-blow-paintings-fine-art-society-london

cramej · Mar 23, 2018

Thumbs up on Ray Metzker. I believe I've seen his work before but now I've made note that I really like it! Just the inspiration I needed right now.

Inayat Noor · Mar 23, 2018

You may want to search by abstract landscapes, if you search "The Palouse" you will find an abundant of abstract images.

Billy Axeman · Mar 23, 2018

The photo's of Ray Metzker are beautiful (they remind me of Edward Hopper), but they are not abstract. Abstract is non-figurative.

NJH · Mar 23, 2018

Do you mean something like this:
http://tonysweet.com/2016/08/08/the-palouse-abstract-landscape/

Not a huge fan of those images above but it is really close to the concept of what I started trying to do but so far have found incredibly hard (failing if I am honest). Its when I see a particular arrangement of colour and texture in the fields when I am driving around I want to try and capture it. However I mean capture it in terms of the impression it gives me rather than a precise capture of reality. I need to work at it, just not a good enough photographer yet, but I have to believe I will get there.

adelorenzo · Mar 23, 2018

NJH said:
I mean capture it in terms of the impression it gives me rather than a precise capture of reality.

I wouldn't call his work abstract but I think that Eddie Ephraums would be an example of what you wrote above. There is not a lot of his work online but a google image search turns up some images. He has two excellent books on photography that I would highly recommend. They can usually be found online for a few dollars.

jim10219 · Mar 23, 2018

Billy Axeman said:
... Abstract is non-figurative.

Yeah. That's what makes the concept of abstract landscape so difficult to even imagine. Now abstract macro, I see that all of the time. But going large is a lot tougher to pull off.

Perhaps Andreas Gursky? I wouldn't call his work wholly abstract. Probably more geometric. But it's similar because he's not concentrating on the figurative aspect of his images, but rather breaking them down into geometric abstractions of color and form. The problem with calling him an abstract landscape photographer is that his images are still figurative, even if they don't rely on that aspect for their primary visual impact.

I think Andrew S. Gray is probably the closest I've seen to abstract landscape photography. He employs a bunch of camera shake into his work. Though his work reminds me more of J.M.W. Turner, who definitely wasn't an abstract painter. So maybe Andrew S. Gray would be more of an impressionist photographer (though Turner wasn't a true impressionist painter, but rather just an inspiration for the movement)?

Billy Axeman · Mar 23, 2018

jim10219 said:
Yeah. That's what makes the concept of abstract landscape so difficult to even imagine. Now abstract macro, I see that all of the time. But going large is a lot tougher to pull off.
......

There are various sub-categories in abstract and one of them is abstract impressionism. So, it is possible to express subtle feelings (impressions) in spite of it being non-figurative.

When I paint a single horizontal line on a canvas (or photograph something similar), and when I give it the title "Landscape with blue sky", the observer is changing his mindset and he is indeed perceiving the abstract picture as a landscape and not as a straight line.

My personal opinion, however, is that an abstract painting or photograph is only abstract when it has no figurative aspects at all, not even in the title. It must be presented totally neutral to the observer. By that definition it is not possible to make an abstract landscape. However, the observer is free to interpret the image as he wants, so he could see it as a landscape.

This last part isn't a generally accepted interpretation of abstract though, it is more one possible sub-category as mentioned in the first paragraph.

macfred · Mar 24, 2018

Talking about abstract landscapes, Ernst Haas - The Creation occurs to me
https://www.google.de/search?q=erns...4ITaAhXKjqQKHcTzBCsQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=879

Merg Ross · Mar 24, 2018

Much of my work has been labeled "abstract", but not in the sense of the grand landscape. I think you are on the right track with Brett Weston's work.

NJH · Mar 25, 2018

macfred said:
Talking about abstract landscapes, Ernst Haas - The Creation occurs to me
https://www.google.de/search?q=erns...4ITaAhXKjqQKHcTzBCsQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=879

Wow. Thanks for the link, another photographer to study closely.

removed account4 · Mar 25, 2018

hey billy axeman
thanks for the shout out !
yeah i agree most photographs are within 20seconds of
where someone is ..

grahamp · Mar 25, 2018

Mario Giacomelli did some interesting (to me at least) landscape abstractions. There's an eponymous monograph from the Friends of Photography, Carmel, 1983 that has a lot of them. I have not found many examples online, though this link http://lenscratch.com/2015/10/mario...lity-treasures-from-the-sassoferrato-archive/ shows some urban landscape abstractions.

Merg Ross · Mar 26, 2018

FerruB said:
hi,

any particular photographer name pop up in your mind with abstract landscape? Preferably B&W film only.
for a project I have in mind I am looking for some inspirations. So far I only found Ray Metzker Landscapes...

Cheers,
Ferru

Yes, I often think of Art Sinsabaugh, especially for his interpretations of the urban landscape. Check out his Chicago work for inspiration.
Regards,
Merg
www.mergross.com

FerruB · Mar 26, 2018

Many good suggestions and a lot of inspirations! Thank you guys!

Billy Axeman said:
The problem with most photographers is that they don't look beyond their own small world and when you search for 'abstract photography' it's almost 100% crap.

Agreed.
Without arguing the universal meaning of abstraction...to me abstraction should simply offer a new view, allowing new interpretations and possibly bring some thoughts. It should act like a layer or filter between the subject and the viewer enhancing the values of the picture. Values that can be purely aesthetic or carrying a specific message.

macfred said:
Talking about abstract landscapes, Ernst Haas - The Creation occurs to me
https://www.google.de/search?q=erns...4ITaAhXKjqQKHcTzBCsQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=879

Nice, l like it and is probably close to what I have in mind!

grahamp said:
Mario Giacomelli did some interesting (to me at least) landscape abstractions. There's an eponymous monograph from the Friends of Photography, Carmel, 1983 that has a lot of them. I have not found many examples online, though this link http://lenscratch.com/2015/10/mario...lity-treasures-from-the-sassoferrato-archive/ shows some urban landscape abstractions.

Very interesting as well! A bit more urban but still very interesting!

ic-racer · Mar 26, 2018

Find the book for this exhibit. https://www.si.edu/exhibitions/betw...temporary-american-landscape-photography-3810

Abstract landscape photographers

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