This minimalist landscape image was produced by French photographer Xavier Rey. As the magazine cover says, it is 'Simple. Uncluttered. Beautiful.' I find its simplicity very visually appealing. The range of tones is pleasing to the eye, and the composition - the dark foreground ensures there are no distractions. The line of wooden posts sweeps across the centre of the image in a gentle curve, and contrasts strakly with the light colour of the water in this area. The horizon sits close to a 'line of thirds', providing a divison between the water and sky, and giving context to the image. Finally, the sky graduates gently from light to dark grey.
The lack of 'clutter' in the image ensures that the eye is drawn immediately to the main subject. Interestingly, this image appears on Rey's website in a square format (the website will not allow direct links to photographs - this particular image can be found under Portfolios / Le Temps d'une Pose). It may be that the original portrait-format image was provided for the magazine, or perhaps the dark foreground was added afterwards.
There are many other images on Rey's site that appeal to me. It is difficult to talk about individual images without being able to provide links, so I will just make some general comments. Those that appeal to me most from his portfolio are the images that portray a sense of calm and tranquility. Many of his photographs include rickety jetties or lines of wooden posts as their main subjects. A long exposure has been used in each case, so that the water appears perfectly smooth and calm. To me, these images strongly convey a sense of peace and stillness, and I can imagine sitting in the same position as the photographer, feeling my stress melt away.
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If I were asked to pick two favourite images from my own portfolio, I would choose these two:
Both are minimal in terms of subject. If I had the opportunity to photograph the first location again, I would take a step or two to the right, to separate the posts in the middle from those behind. In terms of tone and feeling though, I am broadly happy with it.
However, I would like to visit the second location again. The elements of the composition - the ruined pier, sky and water - make for a 'minimal' image in terms of subject, but after seeing Rey's images, there are several changes I would like to make. Firstly, if the location allows, I would like to take the shot from further to the right. Hopefully this would result in the pier curving across the image, rather than forming a more or less straight line.
Secondly, I would like to use a longer exposure, to completely 'iron out' the movement on the water surface. This would necessitate the use of a darker ND filter, or I would need to take the image when there is less light in the sky. Thirdly, I would like to mute the colours.
The second and third changes - in fact, maybe even the first as well, can perhaps be made in Photoshop. The muted colours should be the easiest to achieve, as the photography above is a DRI 'dynamic range increase' image, made from combining three bracketed exposures in the program Photomatix. If I go back to the original RAW files and manually blend an exposure for the sky and one for the sea, I may find that I have the 'muted' feel I am looking for. Watch this space... I'll have a try, and post my efforts here soon!
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