How and Why Minimalist Photos Benefit Designers

Minimalism is an approach that is popular and effective for both design and photography. Whether we’re talking about websites, brochures, product packaging, or any other type of design, a clean minimal look can be very effective.

What is Minimalist Photography

Minimalist photos focus on simplicity, and this can be accomplished in several different ways. A photo that is truly minimal will feature a composition that intentionally avoids anything unnecessary. This approach is in contrast to fitting as much as possible within the frame. In some cases, the photographer may have to make use of angles or other approaches to prevent unwanted objects from winding up in the photo.

There are many different types of photos that could be considered minimal, including still life, nature and landscapes, architecture, and even portraits.

Common Characteristics of Minimal Photos

While there is a great deal of variety, minimal photos will often include some common characteristics. A photo doesn’t need to have all of these characteristics to be considered minimal, but if you’re interested in minimal photos, theses are the types of qualities that you should be looking for.

All of the photos showcased in this article are available here at Vecteezy. Some of them are free and others require a Pro subscription. You can click on any of the photos to be led to the download page.

1. Lack of Clutter

Minimal photos will be clean rather than cluttered. The “less is more” approach can apply to designs and photos alike. Only essential elements are included within the frame.

The photo below includes the top of a bridge as well as a lone helicopter in the sky. The photo was even taken on a clear day with no clouds in the sky.

2. Negative Space

Most minimalist photos will make use of negative space, which is essentially just open space in the composition, and this can be used for directing the eye of the viewer. Negative space or whitespace is a concept that is very familiar to designers.

This photo of a clock includes a lot of negative space within the composition. Rather than having the clock in the center, this composition uses the rule of thirds and the right side of the photo is mostly negative space.

3. Isolation

The subject of the photo is often isolated, causing it to really stand out. Isolation is easy to create with still life or a posed portrait where the environment is controlled, but it’s not always so easy to accomplish with other types of photos. In the photograph below, the photographer isolated the moon by not including the horizon or any elements on the ground to be included in the shot.

4. Clean Edges and Backgrounds

Going along with the first point about a lack of clutter, minimalist photos will almost always feature very clean edges and a simple or solid background. Unnecessary elements along the edges of a photo will create a distraction and lead the eye off of the photo, away from the focal point.

This photo has a plain white background and the edges of the photo are completely clear.

5. Excellent Composition

Taking minimalist photos may sound easy. You simply avoid a lot of stuff in your photos, right?

In order for minimal photos to be attractive, they must be well-composed. The composition will make or break the photo. The composition is always important in photography, but it’s even more important with a minimalist approach. This heavy reliance on excellent composition makes minimalist photography more challenging than it may seem.

6. Limited Color Palette

While it’s not always the case, many minimal photos will feature a limited color palette. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the photo will lack color or that it can’t be bright or vibrant, but most minimalist photos do not include a lot of different colors. This photo is colorful, but it’s mostly different shades of pink.

7. Obvious Focal Point

Because of the lack of clutter and because of strong composition, the focal point of the photo will be very obvious. The viewer’s eye will be immediately drawn to the focal point.

Why Minimal Photos Can Be So Useful for Designers

Now that we’ve taken a look at the characteristics that often define minimalist photography, let’s talk about why these types of photos can be so useful and effective for designers.

Complement the Design without Distractions

When you include an image in your design, you want to photo work with your design or to complement it. You don’t want the photo to overpower your design or take away from it.

Maintain a Clean Look and Feel

The photos you choose will have a big impact on the end result of your design. If you’re designing a website, using a photo with a busy background can make the design of the site feel more cluttered. If you’re going for a clean look with the design, you’ll need to use photos and images that have a clean look as well.

Add a Pop of Color

Although some minimalist photos will be black and white or contain muted colors, that’s not always the case. As a designer, one of the challenges you face is finding photos that work well with the color scheme of your design. A photo with a minimalist approach that makes use of color may be perfect for adding some color to your design while still complementing your color scheme. Photos that include just a few colors are more likely to work with your color scheme.

The photo below has a nice blue background and it could work very well with a design of the right color scheme.

Text Can Be Easily Overlaid

There are a lot of situations where your design will have text that overlays on top of a photo. This doesn’t work very well with photos that have busy backgrounds because the text will be difficult to read. Minimalist photos with clean backgrounds are perfect for use with overlaid text. The photo below has plenty of whitespace at the bottom for text.

Showcase of Minimalist Photos

While we’ve showcased several beautiful examples of minimalism in photography throughout this article, you can find even more below (or by checking out this collection of minimal photos that has been curated by our team).