Abstracts Abound

One of the many enjoyable aspects of photography is finding the beauty of abstraction in the most unlikely places. In my mind, visual art is abstract when it uses color, shape and line to draw a pleasing work that does not reference a specific reality. And "abstract" is not a "thing." And sometimes the thing becomes the abstract.

Here are two abstracts that are such "found" items. And they are part of very specific things. Many modern buildings feature collections of reflecting windows -- mirrors, if you will -- that tend to blend the building with its neighbors. This one in Anchorage, Alaska reflects another building in an interesting way. The other abstract is from an interesting fountain in The Chicago Botanic Garden, featuring a line of water jets with one jet out of sync.

Finding such abstracts is always a high point of a photo shoot. Abstracts can also be generated by post-processing magic. We will look at a couple of these in the next post.