Occam's Razor

I first became aware of Occam's Razor as a method of scientific research (bored already? Hang with me here. It does have something to do with photography, I promise). The idea is that an answer to a question is always the most simple of all possible solutions. Sherlock Holmes used Occam's Razor: "Eliminate all impossibilities and what remains, however improbable, is the solution".

In photography, I use Mr. Occam's Gillette to help me make better pictures. It goes something like this:

Every photograph tells a story or elicits a feeling or reaction. I look at an image and determine what story it tells. If it does not tell a story I delete it. If it does, I begin to crop it. As I crop I ask myself, "does it still tell the story? Does it tell the story better? Have I cut too far and made the story incomplete? I keep cropping. As long as the story is still there, I keep going. When the image no longer provides enough information to tell its story, I know I've gone too far. I reverse one step and my picture is complete. (I'm talking electronic croping of course. If you're using scissors and crop too far, you're pretty much screwed).

Simple is better, less is more, minimalism, call it whatever you like, I think it works.

Above is an example, albeit an extreme one. I feel the cropped image of the model holding the teapot against her vintage dress tells the story I originally intended. As far as I was concerned, the rest of the image was distracting and, quite literally, clutter. You may or may not agree, but I bet you'll find it a worthwhile exercise for your images. It works for writing too. Eliminate that which is not necessary to make your point, and your point is made.

Simple things are the most profound.

Model: Elise