Textures & Abstracts
Abstract photography uses shape, form, colour, texture, and pattern to transform ordinary subjects into extraordinary images that evoke emotion and curiosity. By focusing on textures—the tactile qualities of surfaces—we unveil entire worlds hidden in plain sight.
This week, we will explore the rich history, artistic principles, and practical techniques for creating compelling texture-based abstract photography using your smartphone. Texture photography offers a fascinating avenue for creative expression that requires no exotic locations or expensive equipment—just a keen eye and the camera you already carry in your pocket.
The Artistic Values of Texture and Abstract Photography
Abstract photography differs fundamentally from other genres. While most photography aims to present subjects clearly, abstract photography emphasises representing shape, form, colour, texture and pattern. The final image typically isn't a literal representation but an essence of the subject, stripping away context to present it with new meaning.
This approach creates an intriguing dynamic between the photographer and the viewer. Without clear subject recognition, viewers engage with images on a more emotional level, creating their own interpretations based on personal experiences and feelings. This subjectivity is what gives texture photography its lasting appeal. It can transform mundane subjects into extraordinary images. By isolating textures from their original contexts, we create visual puzzles that engage viewers in a way that differs from traditional photography.
Abstract texture photography encourages us to see the world anew—to notice the intricate beauty in peeling paint, the perfect geometry in architectural details, or the complex patterns in natural surfaces. This heightened awareness extends beyond photography into everyday perception, making us more attuned to the visual richness surrounding us.
Unlike many photographic genres that require exotic locations or special subjects, texture photography can be practised anywhere, at any time. The walls of your home, plants in your garden, or surfaces in your neighbourhood contain countless potential images waiting to be discovered.
Children often excel at creating abstract images because they're unfettered by the rules that adults apply to photography. They naturally look deeply into subjects rather than seeing only the bigger picture. This perspective—looking beyond the obvious—is precisely what makes texture photography so rewarding.
The guiding principle should be ‘shoot less, see more’. Abstract photography isn't about taking random close-ups in the hope that something will work; it's about creating intentional compositions. It requires truly observing subjects and searching for elements that reveal the essence of something else within the object.
The Evolution of Photographic Texture
Historical photographic processes often emphasised texture through their very nature. Early techniques, such as carbon prints (1864-1930s), used pigment, potassium bichromate, and gelatine emulsion on paper to create relief images with physical dimension. The gum bichromate process, invented in 1894, applied pigment, potassium bichromate, and gum arabic to paper, resulting in monochrome images reminiscent of charcoal or pastels with pronounced texture.
In the early 20th century, artists began pushing photography beyond literal depiction. The "photogram" technique—creating images without cameras by placing objects directly onto photosensitive paper—became a significant innovation in abstract photography. Artists such as Christian Schad, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy pioneered this approach, generating graphically striking images that transformed everyday objects into luminous, surreal compositions.
By the mid-20th century, photographers increasingly explored texture as a central subject. Aaron Siskind became known for photographing peeling paint, while Bill Mangold focused on rusty ironwork. These photographers recognised that texture could be isolated from its original context to create images transcending simple documentation.
The Impact of Digital Cameras on Abstract Photography
In the analogue era, experimenting with abstraction required significant investment in materials and time, often deterring many artists from pursuing the form extensively. With digital technology, photographers can instantly take and review an unlimited number of images, encouraging them to take risks and iterate rapidly. Anyone with a smartphone can explore abstract photography without concern for material waste or processing costs. Digital technologies have introduced a suite of creative tools and techniques that were either impractical or impossible with film:
Instant Feedback: The ability to review images immediately allows photographers to refine their approach on the spot, fostering a more experimental and iterative process.
Post-Processing: Image-editing software enables extensive manipulation of images, including cropping, layering, colour grading, and more. These tools allow artists to push abstraction further, transforming photographs into works that may bear little resemblance to their original subjects.
Multiple Exposures and Layering: Digital cameras often include in-camera features for multiple exposures, making it easier to combine images into complex, abstract compositions without laborious darkroom techniques.
Motion Blur and Long Exposures: Techniques such as intentional camera movement, long exposures, and selective focus are now easier to execute and refine, thanks to real-time feedback and advanced camera controls.
Digital Photograms and Simulation: Artists like Thomas Ruff have used software to simulate analogue processes, such as photograms. This has overcome the limitations of physical methods (e.g., size, time, and material constraints), enabling unprecedented scale and precision.
Smartphone Apps & AI: In the last few years, a vast variety of smartphone apps give easy access to image manipulation… from distortion techniques such as the Tiny Planets app, to AI toolkits such as Photoleap AI, Photoshop Express and many others. Creating striking abstract images has never been easier.
The ubiquity of digital cameras, particularly on mobile devices, has led to a proliferation of abstract images in everyday visual culture. Even casual photographers often create abstract images—sometimes intentionally. This has contributed to a broader understanding and appreciation of abstraction in photography, raising the bar for artists who seek to innovate within the genre.
A Practical Guide to Abstract and Texture Photography
Texture and abstract photography invite us to reexamine the world through details, patterns, and surfaces that are often overlooked. This guide outlines technical principles, creative approaches, and practical methods for capturing compelling images that emphasise texture and abstraction.
Identifying Textural Subjects
Textures are everywhere; we just need to train our eyes to notice them. They exist in both natural and constructed environments. Practice will develop your skill in spotting opportunities, and it is the first step towards taking compelling abstract photographs.
Natural Textures: Organic materials, such as tree bark, leaves, rocks, and water surfaces, offer irregular and dynamic patterns. Weathering over time adds complexity, as seen in cracked mud or eroded stone.
Manufactured Textures: Uniform patterns in architecture, fabrics, or industrial materials—such as corrugated metal, brickwork, or woven textiles—lend themselves to minimalist or geometric compositions.
Food and Architecture: The intricate surfaces of foods—think citrus peel, bread crusts, or sliced vegetables—provide rich subject matter. Architectural elements, from concrete façades to glass panes, offer contrasts in material and form.
Composing an Abstract Image
Composition is just as important for taking great abstract photos and capturing textures as it is in other genres of photography. The rules can seem a little different in this playing field, however, and the following tips are a helpful place to start:
Geometric Shapes and Lines: Isolate geometric shapes—such as squares, triangles, or grids—to create bold, abstract imagery. Diagonal lines introduce dynamism, while curves soften the composition, creating a more harmonious balance. Basic guidelines, like the Rule of Thirds, can also be useful with textures and abstracts.
Cropping and Framing: Tight cropping eliminates context, focusing attention solely on texture. Filling the frame with a repeating pattern, such as tiles or fabric weave, maximises abstract impact.
Aspect Ratios: Experiment with square or panoramic formats to complement your subject. Square crops often suit symmetrical patterns, while wider ratios emphasise horizontal or vertical repetition.
Multiple Exposures: Layering textures in-camera or during post-processing creates complex, multi-dimensional images. For example, blending a rusted surface with a fabric pattern can yield unexpected visual interplay.
Intentional Blur and Movement: Introducing motion through camera movement or subject drift transforms textures into ethereal, abstract forms. For example, a slow shutter speed paired with lateral motion can turn raindrops on glass into streaks of light.
Reflections: Capture textures mirrored in water, glass, or polished surfaces to add depth and symmetry.
Lighting for Texture
Lighting plays a decisive role in revealing texture. The interplay of light and shadow defines surface characteristics, transforming flat subjects into dynamic and visually striking compositions.
Single Light Source: A single directional light source creates pronounced shadows, enhancing contrast and emphasising texture. This approach works particularly well with surfaces that have pronounced relief, such as tree bark or weathered metal.
Low-Angle Lighting: Positioning the light source at a low angle relative to the subject elongates shadows, accentuating even subtle textures. This technique is effective for capturing the granular details of sand, fabric, or peeling paint.
High-Angle Camera Position: Combining low-angle lighting with a camera positioned directly above the subject helps maintain depth of field while ensuring even illumination throughout the scene. This is useful for flat-lay compositions, such as photographing textiles or food surfaces.
Direct vs. Diffused Light: Direct, undiffused light intensifies shadows, making textures appear more dramatic. Diffused light, such as that filtered through a softbox or baking paper, softens shadows and can reveal subtler details. Experimentation with both approaches is recommended.
Smartphone Camera Capabilities
Modern smartphones offer powerful tools for texture photography, particularly when paired with thoughtful technique and a little preparation.
Close-Focus and Macro Accessories: Many smartphones can focus within centimetres of a subject, rendering fine details invisible to the naked eye. Clip-on macro lenses further enhance this capability, allowing for sharp close-ups with a pleasing background blur.
Portrait Mode: This feature simulates a shallow depth of field, isolating textural elements against a softly blurred background. It is particularly effective for emphasising singular details, such as a flower petal or rusted bolt.
Manual Controls: Third-party camera apps allow precise adjustment of focus, exposure, and white balance. Manual focus ensures critical sharpness, while exposure control prevents overblown highlights in high-contrast scenes.
Optimising Smartphone Macro Texture Photography
Texture photography rewards observation and experimentation. By mastering light, composition, and technique, photographers can reveal the hidden intricacies of everyday surfaces. The key is to balance technical precision with creative curiosity, allowing textures to speak through their inherent patterns and contrasts. Smartphones are particularly suited to macro texture work when paired with these strategies:
Lighting Adjustments
Use a low-angle, directional light source to cast shadows. A table lamp or a torch is ideal for this. For the ultimate in versatility and portability, consider a pocket-sized LED panel such as the SMALLRIG P96L RGB.
Diffuse or soften harsh light with a sheet of baking paper or thin white cotton.
Create fill lighting using a piece of white card or foamboard as a reflector, to soften shadows.
Stability and Focus
Use a tripod or a steady surface to avoid blur. If you enjoy this type of photography, it’s worth investing in a small tabletop tripod with a phone mount. Good-quality, relatively inexpensive options are available from Neewer, Smallrig, and K&F Concept.
Use focus lock or manual focus with focus peaking tools for precise control.
Camera Settings
Use fast shutter speeds (1/200 sec or faster) to freeze motion.
Keep ISO as low as possible (64–200) to minimise noise.
Check that you have enough depth of field. Smartphones tend to have plenty of this inherently, but you generally can’t change the aperture like you would a traditional camera.
Keep the flash turned off, shoot in RAW, and remember to try different aspect ratios.
Editing Workflow
Use selective sharpening to enhance details gently; oversharpening makes your image look crispy and ugly!
Adjust contrast and structure sparingly to avoid artificial results. A gentle S-curve using the Curves tool is excellent, and you’ll probably want to make selective adjustments to different parts of the image for best results.
Use noise reduction in moderation to preserve the integrity of texture. If set too high, it can easily mistake fine details for noise.
Historical Examples of Abstract Photography
Abstract photography has a rich and varied history, marked by experimentation with technique, subject, and the very definition of what a photograph can represent. Below are notable historical examples and figures whose work exemplifies key moments in the evolution of abstract photography.
19th Century Origins
John William Draper (1842) created images using a spectroscope, dispersing light rays to form patterns not directly related to the visible world. Though intended as scientific records, these images are now recognised for their abstract qualities.
Anna Atkins (1840s) produced cyanotype photograms by placing algae directly onto photosensitive paper. Her book Photographs of British Algae contains images that are both scientific and abstract. They feature stark white forms against blue backgrounds devoid of natural context.
Early 20th Century Pioneers
Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882–1966) is credited with inventing the Vortograph around 1917. By attaching three mirrors to his camera, he produced kaleidoscopic, fractured images of reality—purely abstract photographs that paralleled the Vorticist art movement.
František Drtikol (1883–1961): Known for his modernist nudes, Drtikol also created abstract compositions influenced by Cubism and Futurism, using light, shadow, and geometric props to transform the human form into abstract shapes.
In the late 19th century, August Strindberg experimented with saline solutions on photographic plates, producing indefinite, abstract renderings that explored the unseen.
The 1920s–1930s: Avant-Garde and Surrealism
Man Ray: A leading figure in the Dada and Surrealist movements, Man Ray created Rayographs (photograms made without a camera) and used techniques such as solarisation and multiple exposures to produce abstract images that challenged conventional representation.
László Moholy-Nagy: Associated with the Bauhaus, Moholy-Nagy's photograms—created by placing objects on light-sensitive paper and exposing them to light—are celebrated for their abstract exploration of light, form, and shadow.
Jaroslav Rössler: A Czech avant-garde photographer, Rössler's work in the 1920s and 1930s explored geometric abstraction, light, and shadow. His images often anticipated or paralleled the aesthetics of Constructivism and Cubism. However, they frequently dematerialised the subject, focusing instead on pure form and tone.
Mid-20th Century Developments
Alfred Stieglitz (1922): Stieglitz's Music – A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs is often cited as the first intentional set of abstract photographs. These studies of clouds were expressive, aiming to evoke music rather than depict literal forms.
Aaron Siskind’s detailed monochrome photographs of textures, surfaces, and found objects are often ambiguous and abstract, lacking identifiable subjects. His work in the 1940s and 1950s was closely aligned with the Abstract Expressionist movement.
Minor White, a contemporary of Siskind, explored abstraction through found objects and natural forms, focusing on the emotional and spiritual resonance that these elements evoked.
Josef Sudek (1896–1976): Another Czech photographer, Sudek's later work, especially his still lifes and studies of glass, often approached abstraction through subtle manipulation of light and composition.
Post-War and Contemporary Abstract Photography
Barbara Kasten: Known for her constructed abstract compositions, Kasten's work from the 1970s onward employs light, shadow, and geometric forms to create painterly photographic abstractions.
Wolfgang Tillmans: In recent decades, Tillmans has produced non-representational photographs that explore exposure processes, colour, and form, often without reference to the physical world.
Thomas Ruff's digitally manipulated works, such as his Photograms and Nudes, push the boundaries of abstraction by obscuring or entirely removing the original subject, relying on technology to create new visual forms.
Give it a try!
Abstract texture photography offers a unique opportunity to transform ordinary subjects into extraordinary visual experiences. By focusing on texture—the tactile quality of surfaces—we can reveal entire worlds hidden in plain sight. The genre's rich history, from early pioneers like Man Ray and Moholy-Nagy to contemporary digital experimenters, demonstrates its enduring appeal and endless possibilities.
What makes texture photography particularly rewarding is its accessibility. Unlike many photographic genres, which require travel to exotic locations or expensive equipment, texture photography can be practised anywhere with a smartphone in your pocket. The walls of your home, plants in your garden, or surfaces in your neighbourhood contain countless potential images waiting to be discovered.
Remember that your most important tool is not your camera but your eye. The ability to notice and isolate intriguing textures is a skill that develops with practice and patience.
As you explore texture photography, you'll likely find that it changes how you see the world around you, making you more attuned to the visual richness of everyday surfaces and objects. This heightened awareness is perhaps the most valuable reward of all—a new perspective that extends far beyond the realm of photography itself.
Resources
This fascinating video from Ted Forbes at The Art of Photography explores the history and art theory of abstraction in photography. He says, “This video is likely my favourite of the Composition in Photography series that we've done so far. It was both difficult and interesting to research, and I'm excited to share a timeline of photography history with you as far as abstraction goes.”
This video, from the excellent landscape photographer Mads Peter Iversen, discusses the concept of abstract photography with a particular focus on the patterns and textures found in nature: “Abstract photography is a fascinating subgenre of photography. There are many approaches to it and in this video, I'll explain my three approaches to abstract photography in nature and landscape: "Clean Abstracts", "Resembling Abstracts" and " Abstract Vistas". To me, abstract photography is mainly about pattern recognition - a pattern that you usually just stumble upon. Enjoy the video!”
This week’s assignments…
For this week’s daily photos, your brief is to explore the details of the world around you, find interesting compositions in patterns and textures, and capture them using some of the tips and techniques in this tutorial. In particular, try to use directional light to enhance shadows, emphasise textures, and practice filling the frame to create abstract results.
Let’s see photographs that are detached from reality, show an otherworldly side to the familiar, and evoke emotions through shape, colour, patterns, and lines.
