Household objects also offer many possibilities for abstract images. The word “abstract” can mean many things. In photography, it often refers to images in which the subject is not readily recognizable. The opening image, for example, is a photograph of the shadows cast by a decorative glass bowl and a prism. It’s actually as representative as a portrait or a mug shot. Because a viewer doesn’t know what is being represented, however, we deem such images abstracts.

Take a look at our latest blog post on Still Lifes and Abstracts.

“In reality, we didn’t set out to build a festival. We set out to build a village—a photographic village—where everyone feels welcome and sits down for a beer or some meatballs, and a hearty discussion on the state of photography or the latest camera gear. We’re proud to say that the response from the community has been incredible. People came out in droves, saw powerful photography, hung out, and perhaps most important, they had a great time doing it.”

We talked to Sam Barzilay on showcasing photos in shipping containers, which was a big hit at Photoville this summer. Take a look at what he had to say.

When I rotated the image to the 90°-clockwise position, it popped out at me. It didn’t look unreal, and people who have been to Antelope Canyon would still see this as a real image.

(via How I Got the Shot: Troy Shinn on Looking Up | BH Insights)

“Just as the sun was rising, the clouds came in and it was dark, and not very spectacular. But then, as the sun came up, it brushed through for a couple of minutes, and illuminated the clouds and the pinnacle. This transformed the setting into something striking, loaded with atmosphere.”

(via How I Got the Shot: Adam Taylor on a Surreal Landscape Photo | BH Insights)

This Week in Photography History: Birth of Beaumont Newhall, considered the father of photography history, on June 22, 1908. A photographer in his own right, he is best known as the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art’s photography department. He received this position in 1940 after curating MOMA’s first comprehensive retrospective of photography, titled “Photography 1839-1937” and featuring 800 works, in 1937. While MOMA had featured two exhibits by individual photographers before, Newhall’s show was a total account of photography as both technique and art, and was accompanied by his seminal work, titled “The History of Photography,” on the first hundred years of photography. He then served as curator and director of the George Eastman House, later the International Museum of Photography, until retirement.

“When I ask my students to name a favorite photographer, 75 percent say Ansel Adams.

Really? That many of you relate so closely to a black and white, large format, traditional landscape photographer from forty years ago? Or is it because he is the most well known and easily named photographer of our time? When I jump to the next question, “Why do you like Ansel Adams?” I hear crickets chirping, dead silence.

“Uh, because it’s pretty?”

(via Other than Ansel | BH Insights)

More Riverside by Duncan George via the B&H Photo Flickr Group

See more like this in our Abstract thread.

Composited from digital files drawn from aerial views taken from internet satellite images, this work reflects upon the complex structures that make up the centers of global capitalism, transforming the aerial landscapes of sites associated with industries such as oil, precious metals, consumer culture information and excess. Thousands of seemingly insignificant coded pieces of information are sown together like knots in a rug to reveal a grander spectacle.

(via [Pics] Stunning Kaleidoscope-Inspired Aerial Images | Fstoppers)