Aminus3: Minimal
One wasn't enough
It wasn’t long after I set up Really Abstract that the algorithm started feeding me images prompted by Aminus3, a collective forum for photographers that bills itself as the Essence of Photography. Every Saturday a new photography prompt is posted and over the following week subscribers respond with a photographic image that illustrates the key word.
I had been considering contributing to the weekly parade, but held back for multiple reasons, including:
I subscribe to Groucho-Marxism and therefore refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.
I’m susceptible to Walter-Mittyism and therefore live a rich and full inner life of great imagination while avoiding the unsavory reality introduced by what Sartre called “other people.”
I’m highly suspicious of the algorithm method and anti social media and therefore practice abstinence.
It was already a huge hurdle to overcome to even start posting on Substack. Then Aminus3 made an offer I couldn’t refuse with the prompt word minimal.
Minimalism is important to me. In my First Post Ever, I discussed the influence of architect Mies van de Rohe and admiration for how his work is permeated by his motto of Less is More. Typing that out, I just had a moment of zen. In a flash, I understood that minimalism is neither less nor more and in the clarity the word enough came to mind. Suddenly, my philosophy of minimalism changed from Less is More to Enough is Enough.
I’m going to need to think about that for a while, but in the meantime, back to Aminus3…
Their timing with minimal was impeccable or I still might not have responded. Having just returned from Paris, I had a whack of new photos and was pumped full of enough delusions of Parisian grandeur to overcome my Marxist-Mittyist-paranoiac-critical isolationism. I finally convinced myself by arguing that the reason I started a Substack in the first place was to deliberately defy the habitual smugness of my better judgement.
Finally, enthusiasm for minimalism overflowed into a first submission of two photographic images. Without a hint of irony, I doubled the quota when prompted by minimal. I guess one just wasn’t enough.
One wasn’t enough
Here are the two photos I posted. They remain untitled. One thing I like about minimalism in general, and these pictures particular, is that they are introverted. The images appear simple and unassuming at first glance but reveal their complexity if you linger a while and give them a chance to open up.
This is a photo of the top section of a Parisian parking meter. I recorded it because with the off-white background, it made me think of a sculpture presented on a pedestal in a museum.
I was first attracted to the colours with the two shades of blue and two shades of beige. The form gives a sense of a labyrinth surrounding a sanctuary. There is a thin shadow framing that metaphorical sanctuary that adds some depth and a touch of class.