Abstract photography doesn’t have to mean that you can no longer recognize the subject matter for what it is. Abstraction can, like Sumi painting, eliminate the unnecessary so that you are left with the very essence of the subject.

Line is a critical element in creating a captivating image. The eye needs something to follow and some destination even in abstracted images.  Lines don’t have to be straight, even thickness, or a dominant color to have power.  Landscape art often uses line in a more subtle fashion than other subject matter. All images – [...]

Not all flowers are beautiful in a conventional way. These Indian Pipes are parasitic, without chloroform, and essentially colorless.  There is something both macabre and elegant in the unfurling shapes.  Good botanical photography, like the careful prints of the 18th-century, can both inspire and convey scientific interest through lighting and composition. //

It seems like there are as many forms and styles of photography as there are all other art forms combined. The same camera can capture a birthday, a volcanic ecosystem or a war zone – but it’s unlikely that the same photographer can give these equal skill and attention.  We all have different ways of [...]