Minor White
"At first glance a photograph can inform us. At second glance it can reach us."
Minor Martin White (1908- 1976) was an American photographer, theoretician, critic, and educator. He was one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century.
Minor had an intense interest in how people viewed and thought about photographs. Photography for White was not just a way to record whatever was in front of him at any time for any reason. It was a way to seek God and enlightenment. Photography was a form of spiritual exercise in the same way as meditation or prayer.
White made thousands of black-and-white and color photographs of landscapes, people, and abstract subject matter: he often photographed the mundane. His photos showed technical mastery and a strong sense of light and shadow. His technically perfect prints reflect his engagement with the spiritual in the aesthetic.
Snow on Garage Door
Visual Elements This photo emits a natural, soft, asymmetrical balance of bright and dark contrasts. There is a distinct range of tones with dark appearing on the top, in the window, and a little in the middle, with the lightest values of the snow in the middle and on the bottom (and a tiny on the window). I love the sense of space in this shot: the natural pattern of the snow and how the top and bottom are mirror-like. There is more depth if one considers peering into the black window. The focus is flat as there is not much depth, although just a small amount in the grooves of the garage and in the window. There is a great sense of geometry with the reflective like patterns of snow. The void is the window. There are very hard, straight lines that contrast well with the soft, random placing of snow. Black and white is perfect for this mood of showcasing nature's simplicity. The texture is both rough and soft; homey yet distant; mundane yet exotic. I would have named this photograph, Nature's Mirror. For me, this is the ultimate shot of beauty with its natural placement of snow patterns. |
By the end of his career, White's pictures were abstract, black-and-white closeups of rocks, wood and water. The gleaming images were spiritual and intense. He arranged them in sequences, leading viewers from one picture to another, slowing us down and forcing us to see connections and relationships between the shapes. |
"When a photographer presents us with what to him is an Equivalent, he is telling us in effect, 'I had a feeling about something and here is my metaphor of that feeling.'...What really happened is that he recognized an object or series of forms that, when photographed, would yield an image with specific suggestive powers that can direct the viewer into a specific and known feeling, state, or place within himself."
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"...It finally dawned on me that photographs can be made while sitting quietly looking at nothing, seeing nothing, camera packed away.” - Minor White
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“There’s no particular class of photograph that I think is any better than any other class. I’m always and forever looking for the image that has spirit! I don’t give a damn how it got made.” – Minor White
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