40 Astounding Examples of Abstract Photography

by Bill Jones

I just love the creativity we see in abstract photography. I love it when a photographer takes an otherwise ordinary shot and shoots it at just the right angle or focus to create a masterpiece of colors, patterns and textures. With abstract photography there is only one rule and that rule is there are no rules. Rules for composition and proper focus don’t really apply.

Here are some great examples of abstract photography to inspire you to go out and create your next work of art. Enjoy.

Patricia Sweeney

Abstract Photography

Earl A. Jones

Abstract Photography

tanakawho

Abstract Photography

somebody3121

Abstract Photography

kit

Abstract Photography

damyan

Abstract Photography

RamonaG

Abstract Photography

gnato

Abstract Photography

eintoern

Abstract Photography

beckerpecker

Abstract Photography

Alexandre Buisse

Abstract Photography

Tineke Visscher

Abstract Photography

hesitation

Abstract Photography

Philipp Klinger

Abstract Photography

jciv

Abstract Photography

Alice Marie

Abstract Photography

acukur

Abstract Photography

Thomas Holtkoetter

Abstract Photography

Beppe02

Abstract Photography

Coeiise

Abstract Photography

les flynn

Abstract Photography

Alan Jaras

Abstract Photography

Stefan Hellkvist

Abstract Photography

Daniel Swann

Abstract Photography

Carlos Costa Branco

Abstract Photography

DodgeNBurn

Abstract Photography

dojoh

Abstract Photography

Marinshe

Abstract Photography

designalicious

Abstract Photography

(nz)dave

Abstract Photography

jmvnoos

Abstract Photography

Jacob Jovelou

Abstract Photography

Ursula I Abresch

Abstract Photography

pedroinacio

Abstract Photography

LuceAnima

Abstract Photography

dismorfic

Abstract Photography

Jeremy Brooks

Abstract Photography

David M Lee

Abstract Photography

Niels Christian Wulff

Abstract Photography

Erika Nagy

Abstract Photography

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52 Comments

@todayinart said:

Nice collection Bill!
Richie said:

This is an awesome collection
Lavinia said:

Beauty is in the eyes that can spot it.

Thank you
Don said:

These are amazing photos, and they have given me many new ideas!
TY
Rad_rosa89 said:

Beautiful!
deceptive said:

Great selection of photos.
Jennifer said:

Great set of photos! The everyday objects are simply beautiful.
marben said:

wow.. it so nice..
hope i can see more of youre collection…….
stacy wingo said:

cool phtography! thank you for this compilation; VERY INSPIRING!
Sara said:

Great …words can’t describe this =D. So artistic …
Amit said:

the pics are really stunning..the somebody3121 is the best abstract pic just cant make out its waves or a painting..amazing photography…the best thing in abstract photography is its vry simple n even an amature can take good abstract pics..The abstract photographer uses his creative imagination to create stunning works of art. water & sand best subjects for abstract photography if the usage of lights are proper in it..
Omer said:

nice collection
Colin Hall said:

Stunning examples. My favourite is the Dismorfic one … truly excellent.
J Ericson said:

These are so beautiful and inspiring, everything on this site is. I used to really be into photography, especially the abstract. I miss those days, I want to get back into them now. These are great photos.

- J
jmleclercq said:

Great collections !
darcie elliott said:

WOW really great photography and creative as it gets!
Rafael said:

Superb collection!
Tassos Pasalis said:

You have selected great images, I like your taste!
peachm said:

some of the best amazing stuff!
kanubhaitank said:

very niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee photographay.
all photo i liked
Abhishek said:

Awesome!!
mona said:

oooooooooooooooo. it’s nice… :)
Rachel said:

Very great photos! They are all very interesting(:
KC said:

Interesting work!
Chris said:

I cannot see any abstraction here. I can only see some good macro lens work and well thought out composition. Surely, if a picture is to be considered an abstraction, what is photographed should not be immediately apparent. I think Michael Kenna put it best when he said something like a photographer should resist the temptation to become a slave to technical know how; a fascination with getting the right aperture, exposure setting as opposed to a fascination with the subject matter. There is far too much of the former in this selection of images. This, of course does not mean that they display a lack of skill. Finally, please do not take my comments as a negative criticism, but plain speaking art-criticism.
ashok gulati said:

these are all close-up shots although but very stricking images compositions
well done
Nafi said:

woww..I’m sooo amazed, wonderful pics here and also in the other collections as well, love them!
Tassos Pasalis said:

Every time I see this compilation I go WOW!!!!
THIS is photography to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not the crappy old people’s close up wrinkles etc.
fnmaillo said:

WOW!!! Those pics are amazing!!!! Congrats!
Christina Foster said:

I think the shots below are as well done if not better than a lot of shots on this page –

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vineetradhakrishnan/5151661992/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vineetradhakrishnan/5155900116/

I would agree that the closeup shots are not really abstract
Wally said:

new title 5 astounding pictures and 35 average ones
Ivan said:

Uma coleção impar…lindissimas!
Tinylavafish said:

Abstract Photography is my favorite genre. This is a fantastic collection, thanks!
yuval cadmon said:

Inspiring!!
James said:

You have compiled a great selection of interesting images, every one of them is great.
Artem said:

This is collection is amazing.
John D said:

These are really nice images, but only some of them are actually abstracts. As another commentor noted, several of these are just close-up photos or architectural photos. Dayman, Hestiation, Philipp Klinger, Jciv, Alice Marie, Acukur, Beppe02, Jmvnoos, Dismorfic, and Jeremy Brooks are not abstract. They’re very, very pretty images, but they’re not abstracts.
True North Mark said:

All I can say Chris is that you are totally off the mark with your comments.

These images are an excellent display of both skill and abstract prowess.

Well done I say!

I am personally taking some inspiration from these images!
Infrared Photography said:

Amazing pictures :) Thank you for sharing
blascoF said:

Exceptionally great visualisations, very inspiring indeed. Thanks for the posting for all to view.
Duncan said:

Really nice and inspiring set of photos there. I recently tried out some abstract photography for the first time. Had a lot of fun with it:

http://duncaninkuantan.blogspot.com/2011/05/abstract-photo-session.html
bitton said:

sir, i am from Nepal and jst want to learn the tipical abstract photoggraphy. i saw ur collection and it gave me lots of ideas but i need ur help. please learn me that how to creat picture in ur mind.
Nat Coalson said:

I agree this is a nice collection of images, but many of them aren’t true abstracts. If you can readily identify the subject matter of a photo, it isn’t abstract. For this reason, I’ve found abstract photography to be very challenging and highly addicting. Thanks for your post!
warda sataesh said:

all r not abstract but awsome collection
les flynn said:

beautiful collection…………some incredible pieces of work.
Thanks for publishing mine.

Sunny
Paula Silva said:

Amazing images, love most of them. How can people miss this blog?
Vishal said:

fantastic is the word
Chris said:

In my original post I stated a reason why I think that these pictures are ‘not’ abstracts (a decision which I continue to uphold, yet perhaps it requires some further elaboration). However, I think True North makes a useful comment when he/she underlines the potential for inspiration. I think it is laudable that so many people have been inspired to go away and work on their photographic style after seeing the pictures on this page.

Nonetheless, I also think in terms of understanding these images, abstraction (as a description, term, concept) is unhelpful or even harmful to inspiration. Take Uta Barth for example, her work may be more accurately entitled as abstract because in her work, the subject is an aspect of her work that is indiscernible (or unrecognizable). In these images, whilst it may be occasionally difficult to make out what is being photographed, great care is taken not to disrupt the form or line of that which is being photographed. So long as – as a photographer – you pay attention to the form of what you are photographing, how can you call your work abstract? The most useful thing to remember about abstraction – in art – is that it is a moving away from the familiar. So that a close up of a aspect of a fork cannot be called abstract because even though I have not seen a fork in this way before, I still know it is a fork that I am looking at. Perhaps then the remedy is to – when approaching abstraction – forget what you are looking at; don’t think “how can I photograph the water in such a way that it will look unusual or different” but try instead: “how can I make this look unfamiliar?” This may sound like me simplifying things but I am sure you will join me shouting out loud, “Its just not that simple!” And you would be absolutely spot on. Its not simple at all.
danielle said:

there are some very similar and some not so similar, they’re all inspiring and abstract in there own way. well done :)
Neel said:

Grat!!! A collection of speechless beauties…
Awesome!!!
ezragbenga said:

Nice works,splendid I hope I’ll be able to shoot like these someday. Thanks for the inspiration.
pooja said:

nice abstract