Minimalism

I'm going to take a walk from minimalist architecture to minimalist art. Check out the photo here, it's minimalist. In real life it's minimalist architecture. As a photograph it's minimalist art (photography). I've cornered this building to show the upper floors of a building covered with a vertical-blind-like stucture that's built to cover the glass underneath.

This isn't just a decorative element. Here in Palm Springs, temps can rise to 120 degrees F in summer, so the design element here is functional in that it reduces the heat coming into the building.

Now on to the art part. Look long enough at this picture and it starts to elude you optically. That, really, is the objective with this shot. At first it appears simple, even boring, but look at it long enough and you see it even after you turn away.

Minimalism originated in the 50s and 60s and can--

1. create an object of interest
2. use repititive patterns
3. be hard-edged
4. delineate space
5. lacks emotion

Minimalist architecture is easily photograhed with any lens, but to give a photo focus, a telephoto lens is best because you can pick one or two elements of the structure (whether it be a sculptural element or an edifice).