19.3.15

Minimalism : An attempt





Aloha folks!

The past two weeks have simply flown by and they have been exhausting! It's that time of the year again - the ever dreaded end of semester. I feel like I am in an episode of The Walking Dead, surrounded by sleep-deprived students desperately attempting to hand in their work in time. When we aren't laughing hysterically in a manner that might concern our parents, all we dream of are pillows. In all this hysteria, the thing that has helped me keep calm and composed (partially), is my amateur attempts at minimalist photography.

The concept of minimalism is to try and strip down everything to its most basic form, to make a composition that cannot be simplified anymore. This composition may be a photograph, a painting, an architectural structure, an outfit and even food. My earliest exposure to minimalism was through the study of minimalism in architecture. The works of architects like Tadao Ando and Luis Barragan just blew my mind! Ever since then, I have been exploring the works of artists who believe in this philosophy.

It might seem like an easy enough concept to grasp, but even a quick scan on the internet will show you that it's much more than blank walls and bare canvases. It's about simplicity, humility, spirituality, materials, order, repetition, the play of light and shadow. It's about the core essence of a composition, that one thing without which your creation ceases to exist. To find beauty in simplicity is much harder than one would anticipate, and it isn't something we do everyday. Minimalism can also be adopted in one's lifestyle, which I experienced briefly on a 2 week trip to Auroville in South India. That's an entirely separate post altogether!

Therefore, I decided to embark on this journey of finding beauty in the small things, in the everyday objects we probably wouldn't even give a second glance. So far, it has made me slow down, absorb and observe the little things going on around me and in general made me feel a lot calmer.

I adore Instagram and it is by far my favourite social networking app, and I have come across a lot of very inspiring and creative individuals through it. Some of my favourite minimalist photography accounts are:


I think their photographs are stunning, and they each have their own very distinctive style. I am no expert when it comes to photography, but I genuinely admire their work, and want to work on my own photography skills. So I leave you now with a few attempts of my own! 








 I had a lot fun experimenting with this style and will probably attempt to get better! If you'd be interested to see more, head on over to my Instagram account @minnabee93, where I've shared more of what I've been upto the past few days. 

What have you guys been doing this week?

Have a great weekend! 

4 comments:

  1. These photographs are amazing.You're architecture?
    I have a friend who's doing it as well I find his work so interesting.I helped him making some big model of a community center for his finals it was so cool.

    Neal Kind
    Daily Diaries

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    Replies
    1. Hi Neal!
      Yup, I'm almost done with fourth year of architecture school now. It is definitely a very interesting course but so, so hard. Haha, the good old community centre, staple design assignment.
      What is it that you study? :)

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    2. *Drumroll*
      Computer Science Engineering :P
      2nd year

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    3. Haha maybe you can give me coding tips for the blog then :)

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