By Jessica Stewart on September 14, 2023

“Ashored” by Martin Annand (United Kingdom). Minimalist Photographer of the Year and Long Exposure Photographer of the Year.

Check out the refreshing simplicity of minimalist photography.

There is something about minimalism, when executed correctly, that is soothing. By stripping away unnecessary details, creators who work with a minimalist aesthetic bring a balance and harmony to their work that makes them pleasurable to view. And this is what the Minimalist Photography Awards celebrates.

“Bike Shadow” by Francesco Luongo. Aerial Photographer of the Year.
“Aerial view with a biker shadow mixed with urban geometries, taken in Livorno, Italy.”

Organized by B&W Minimalist Magazine, the awards are a showcase for global photography talent. This year’s contest, which drew photographers from 31 countries, saw over 3,100 entries. Judged by an expert panel, the winners demonstrate how effective minimalism can be in communicating a message or transmitting a feeling.

“Ashored” by Martin Annand (United Kingdom). Minimalist Photographer of the Year and Long Exposure Photographer of the Year.
“This collection of images from the coast of the UK and further afield are born from the love of long exposure photography and the coast. As a child, a trip to the seaside was always an exciting prospect, an event, an adventure. These feelings still stir now when I head to the coast with my camera. The anticipation of what’s to come. Trying to find interesting subjects before time and tide swallow them up forever. Not always having the time I’d like to devote to my photography, I have tried to create a more timeless feel to my images. Stripping back to basics often leaves only a main subject discarding any clues or leaving only hints on time and location. I’ve never wanted to document what I’ve seen, only to create my version of it. I use color as opposed to monochrome as I find color more of a challenge, but I try to keep colors subtle and limit the color palette.
I see myself as far from a finished article as a photographer. I hope that what I have learned so far goes to producing some aesthetically pleasing images that others enjoy as much as I enjoy creating.”

Photographer Martin Annand from the United Kingdom was named the 2023 Minimalist Photographer of the Year for his exceptional work. His series of images, Ashored, is a fresh take on typical seaside imagery. By combining a love for long-exposure photography with a limited color palette, he brings a soothing, timeless feel to his work.

With 12 categories, the Minimalist Photography Awards honors a wide range of talents.[…]

“Cloudy day” by Guido Klumpe. Fine-art Photographer of the Year.
“In this series clouds are the stars. Sometimes shy, sometimes cheeky-without clouds, the pictures would tells different stories. German photographer Guido Klumpe’s work includes abstract, minimalist, and street photography. Born with a severe congenital visual impairment, he perceives the world differently. Guido sees cities as urban landscapes, landscapes consisting of shapes, colors, light and reflections. He uses perspective, a particular point of view, and the poetry of chance in the old tradition of street photography, to create his compositions. This way, he creates a “stage” in which passers-by act as protagonists. His work highlights the mystery and absurdity of urban spaces while simultaneously revealing its hidden beauty. In his work, he investigates how we perceive dimensionality and is particularly interested in the moment of transition, when by reducing the optical reference points, three-dimensional architecture dissolves into a two-dimensional plane, lending many of his images an almost painterly quality. Considerations that arise during this process include the importance of information that helps establish a distinction between the foreground and background, and the type and number of objects involved.
Guido’s work has won numerous international awards, has been widely published, and is included in many solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe.”

More: 2023 Minimalist Photography Awards Celebrate the Beauty of Simplicity