15 Outstanding Examples Of Conceptual Photography

15 Outstanding Examples Of Conceptual Photography

Conceptual photography means the photographer is trying to write a story in your head with a single image. A lot of the time the message is conveyed in a very abstract way using random objects and props. Although the image may be shot to tell one story, it can very easily be interpreted many different ways by each person who sees it.

Here are a 15 amazing conceptual shots:


George Gradinaru

highverbalfan

A.madestra. W

Lars Raun

Lina Ianeva

Clyde Beamer

Piet Flour

Nasey

Dave Nitsche

Santy Ago

Abel Tonkens

Andre Arment

Dylan-K

Xabier.M

Alexander Gubin

via - www.thephotoargus.com

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18 Comments

I find these much more inspiring and though provoking than the art reproduction post...

And you couldn't be bothered to credit the photographers because???

ya... a few months back i typed "concept based photography" into google and most of these came up... i guess Fstoppers just cut out the middle man.  Some are cool.. some i am not seeing the concept...

a-ehm.. duane michals was a crystal clear example of "conceptual photography". 
i see none above here... just a bunch of camera owners pretending to be artists.
dear fstoppers, you've grown bigger and bigger, i've been on your pages each and every day for more than two years now, you should bring some image culture from time to time. this is not the case ; )

I agree with the reader above. These are not examples of conceptual photography. Conceptual photography began in the late 60's / early 70's and was an extension of Conceptual Art in general, a genre which rejected traditional aesthetic values and simply relied on an intellectual idea that was communicated often through very spare, "ugly" or utilitarian imagery. See Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, and Vito Acconci for examples. 

How are these conceptual?

I wish you'd get some decent content people in. You really think this guy is earning his salary?

How exactly aren't these conceptual? And isn't each photographers name posted right above each photo? Just because someone may not fully understand the concept of each photograph, (I admittedly don't understand every single one) doesn't mean there isn't one. 

those pictures are “flowers, cats and sunsets"-ish cheapo conceptual... 

http://overhereplease.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/duane_michals-things-a...
c'mon, you get the difference?

sometimes i suprised to f-stoppers. why don`t you stick to "making" and "pro" posts? 
c`mon guys... you can select better than that. what value does this pictures have? even in "conceptual photography" world? its just bad taste. go see luerzers "Archive" , learn something... or
a post about Cindy Sherman probably will have much more impact than some random googled "conceptual" photography.

Jeez. Some of you guys are just...mean.  I'm just saying.  I'm not sure it's the goal nor should it be to post up everything that fits within the "parameters" of any one subject matter. In this case, conceptual photography. It is what it is.  They take the time to post stuff and do a pretty good job on the regular with a variety of content. Sometimes it's awesome, sometimes ehhh.  In this case..... If it's not "conceptual" or YOU don't find it to be....what difference does it make...really?!  Honestly...regardless of whatever you want to call it or no matter how many of these particular shots posted are "breathtakingly" good or not....the photos are pretty cool.  Some more than others. But hey, that's art.  Honestly, out of the 15 pics they posted, I may have only found 2-3 of them to be madd cool. To me, that is! The way I see it....F' it.....if I come across a blog or any site and see a cool photo for the day, I'm good. Other than that...doesn't it suck to just get on a site and pick shit apart and be negative?   Ya'll should just "F'in Stop it!" ;~>   Peace!!

you see, its about the title:
"15 Outstanding Examples Of Conceptual Photography".you have to be mad, to say "outstanding example". it means exquisite, professional, the best, representing the whole movement of photography genre... and what you get when you open it? bad taste. 

Obviously you can argue that there are 'concepts' behind these photographs. Anything, by that token, can be conceptual photography. But it is important to know that there is an actual genre of photography in a specific historical context that is often referred to as "conceptual photography" and the images in this post are not part of that definition.

can you tell the difference between still life and portraiture? then you can say if those pictures are "conceptual" or simply "wannabe-artist made". the only one i'd dare to call conceptual, is the one with the cardboard box on the beach. it makes you think. it asks you to stare at it for some time. there's something to see. what about the remaining pictures? I see some pretty landscapes, both urban and wild ones, I see a very nice staged picture of a catastrophe, I see some attempts with such little and easy content [the apple in the mirror], but all the rest is a load of overphotoshopped bad pictures with no content at all. 
if i were 15 with no image culture whatsoever, I'd find most of these pictures really attracting. i don't want to be mean, i just wish this could be a way to spread culture. 

Here are some questions regarding the "concepts" :

The green marble on it's own, bleeding- Did it separate from the others on it's own and kill it self? Or did the others banish him? 

The gambler with the dice-  Is he winning? Loosing?  Is he dead? Did he die (lol)...rolling dice? Overall, as a gambler did his habit kill him? 

The Apple-  Is that how we all see ourselves when reality isn't so? 

The angel or whatever- Doesn't look too anxious to be doing his job. And you can't even see his face or anything. It's sort of....implied in the posture yeah? 

These are all pretty basic...maybe even just...silly observations of mine but...whatever.  I can find something in anything.  It is what it is. That's probably the point. 

Now if this were a forum discussing the technical considerations and definitions of "conceptual photography" well then...I suppose by definition and or whatever....some could be excluded or disqualified. Honestly, I wouldn't even know. Not my thing.  But overall....you get my point. Give it all a rest.  

Not marbles, their paintballs. Yes he was banished. Stabbed is his sleep and thrown out in the night.

gambling man is 'dedication'. Living his dream to the very end. damn you all, I can ruin my own life with out your help!

Practicing his photoshop skills and Mr Santy Ago got hungry.

Thats an angel of death. He's standing over the burning city.... laughing on the inside

Im sure each phtotography has their own idea but I think thats fstoppers point. to play pshycologist and hold up a picture and say "ok, what do you see"

Personally I freaking love the body in the cardboard box on the beach... err I mean I love the PHOTO of the body in a cardboard box on the beach, yeah thats what I meant haha

I am really not going to lie the ignorance in the fan base of this site is appalling and every time i read the comment section of a post it really makes me not want to come back to Fstoppers. I realize everyone is entitled to there own opinions but people on this site only spout off at the gums when they have something negative to say.  As a Conceptual photographer myself I really enjoyed these pieces and I always enjoy the darker images even though most of the readers on this site seem to be very closed minded please keep up the good work

Concept
an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a construct.

The photo by Lina Ianeva of the woman's legs in a cardboard box by the sea is not only not very conceptual, but it is a clear plagiaristic ripoff of a photo by Peter Beard that can be seen in his book Eyelids of the Morning. The original photo shows a pair of human legs in a box by the sea, tragic remains of a crocodile attack. The book is about poaching and lethal encounters with Crocs. Not only does FStoppers fail to discuss the origins of the photos in the articles, but also fails to understand and convey what Conceptual really means. Disappointing.

I never knew there is such a genre of photography like this. thanks admin for such an information.
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