Abstract Photography

Wikipedia refers to abstract art as generally understood to mean "art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way." Well, for one thing, I generally work in black & white photography, so that leaves just "form."

Some might feel that an "abstract" photograph is by its very definition a contradiction in terms, but I see it as an avenue of new information, or insight, that might not be viewed in any other context. It should not call forth a "what's that?" reaction, but rather an "oh yes!"

When I come across a scene in the natural world that I feel works compositionally as an abstract, I do not mark it as a cerebral event, but rather as a serendipitous one. Art is what we all view as art, and photography has to be viewed in exactly the same way if, that is, it is to approach the concept of "art." An abstract view in art is the same as an abstract view in photography. If you appreciate it there, you must also appreciate it here. If it works there, it must also work here. Because it was captured from an existing form in reality, it does not make it any less a work of art. You saw it, they saw it, but only a few of us may really have seen it. That's art. And that's photography.