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What is Abstract Photography?

There is no standard, universally accepted definition of abstract photography. Actually, it is not easy to create a clear-cut definition of an abstract concept. However, for the purposes of this article series, it is necessary to create a definition in order to put some boundaries around the topic. This makes it easier to determine what falls within the domain of the subject matter. Thus, for this article series, abstract photography will be defined as photography that: Does not represent the subject in a literal way and Communicates primarily through form, color, and curves rather than image detail This definition brings about a very important point. Since image detail takes a back seat to form, color, and curves, the brain's logical processes are more subdued when viewing abstract images. Instead, the reaction is much more instinctual. In essence, abstract photography communicates to the viewer primarily through the viewer's emotions. This plays to the photographer's benefit because humans' emotional systems are much more powerful than the logical systems. It is important to notice that the definition did not say that the subject matter had to be unrecognizable. It is true that, in some abstract images, the viewer can not tell what has been photographed.