The Magic of Abstract Art

Photo by Ella Rae, 18, USA

What an extraordinary image - it has so much energy, movement and aliveness.

I have no idea what it is and it’s totally irrelevant!

It’s loud, expressive and courageous - it’s not holding back.

All the qualities I’ve just described are usually assigned to people or at least scenes, buildings or even fashion we can easily identify. Here we don’t even know what we are looking at yet it’s all there anyway.

So what’s the secret? How do we manage to express and receive so much when our brain technically has hardly any information to feed on?

That’s the magic of abstract art - it uses its own language and engages our unconscious mind.

Learner’s Tip 📸

Notice how Ella almost creates a physical vibration that gets passed on to us through the screen.

This style of photography is less about the decisive moment and more about experimentation. You will be rewarded for spending a bit of time and playing around to create more of a series of images to choose from than betting on one perfect shot.

As always composition is an old trusted friend who will help you crystallise and articulate the sensation you are trying to capture. Notice how Ella caught her moving lines at a slight angle and how her dominant areas of light and dark are not positioned bang on in the centre.