Develop your artistic voice

What do you find beautiful?

Is it nature?
Or something abstracted to the point of being unrecognizable?
Perhaps you find uniformity beautiful?

Whatever your answer, this is your personal style — your artistic voice — coming through.

Eliminate the unnecessary

Hans Hofmann (21 March 1880 – 17 February 1966) was one of the older abstract expressionist painters working in New York. As as an art teacher and writer he had strong influence on the younger American abstract artists after 1940.

Hofmann wrote, “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”

This is the central tenet of fine artist and photographer Brit Hammer’s newest course, Finding Beauty.

The art of minimalism

In photography we strive to declutter our images. Anything that distracts from the intended subject must be pushed out of frame.

How little can you have in your shot until it feels empty to you?

This is one of the questions you must ask yourself. By pushing more and more out of frame until you can’t go further, you arrive at the essence of a scene.

The process of arriving at a minimalist image can be applied to any genre of photography, including lifestyle and photography, architecture, and even outdoor sports.

Are you ready to develop your artistic voice?

The secret to developing your artistic style is to ask yourself the right questions, Brit explains in her tutorial “Find Your Artistic Voice”.

This same methodology of questioning has been applied to photography in Finding Beauty.

Below are some of the student images taken in just the first 3 weeks of the March Finding Beauty class. Images from the rest of this large class will be shared in subsequent posts.

Images: Curt Meinecke

“This is the best advanced class I have ever taken. Finding Beauty has been a true eye-opener me. Brit has helped me to develop a different style of photography that I am sure will help my overall photography. I highly recommend this class — especially to those who already have a basic understanding of photography — although that is not a requirement.” — Curt Meinecke

Images: Laura Russomano

“If you are looking to move more into fine art photography, then Finding Beauty is the course that will help you get there. While focused on minimalism, I found the concepts and techniques presented in this course to be easy to understand, while challenging me to expand my vision and shooting style. Brit’s critiques were extremely insightful and helped me to become more focused on developing my artistic voice.” — Laura Russomano

Images: Gisela Nily

“Less might be more! A beautiful image draws the eye and invites pondering what it actually is and what it might be. Warmth and calm can be achieved in an image. These are new ideas for me…I have been a person who likes riotous color and dramatic contrasts. This course has opened my eyes to so much more. Thank you!” — Gisela Nily

Images: Cristina Persico

“I have always admired lifestyle images and the serenity they convey. Thanks to Brit’s teaching and suggestions in this beautiful course I learned how to tell a story in a different perspective. Thanks again for teaching me to seek beauty in simplicity!” — Cristina Persico

SIGN UP FOR A CLASS WITH BRIT HAMMER

Finding Beauty

Authentic Photo Stories

Celebrate Your Life in Beautiful Images

Photography Essentials

Amazing Travel Photos Made Easy

** No post processing skills necessary for any of Brit’s courses **

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BRIT

Brit Hammer is an international award-winning photographer, bestselling author, and a celebrated artist whose work has aptly been called “fresh and optimistic”.

Her students love her “combination of extensive and well-organized photographic design principles…intuitive eye, patience, enthusiasm and holistic nurturing [because the results are] unbelievably incredible and inspiring student growth.”

Visit her website at brithammer.com

“I just wanted to thank you for another wonderful class. I have to confess that each week when I read the new assignment, my first reaction was mild panic and a deep certainty that I would not be able to produce anything worthwhile that fit within the parameters you had set. But before I knew it, the ideas started to flow, and I quickly became obsessed (no, that isn’t too strong a word!) with exploring the possibilities. I can honestly say that the photos I produced in response to your assignments are among my favorites. Thanks for bringing out a creative side I didn’t know I had!”

Barbara Geiger
Understanding Color

“Thank you so very much for this course! It’s allowed me to take the blinders off and present my images for what I want them to be without being a slave to the “reality” of the camera. I would also add that in conjunction with your printing course, this has been the most useful course I’ve ever taken. Your notes are more than comprehensive and your comments and critiques are direct, clear, and always directed to the improvement of the art.”

Bill
After the click

” I want to thank you for this class and for your patience and availability to answer all of my questions. I have learned very much through this class. I have used LR in the past, but mostly for editing images. I now have a better grasp in the organization of my images, an even better understanding of editing images, and an understanding of the value of presets. I still have a lot to learn, but this has put me on the road to be able to improve my photography. Again, thank you! ”

Dale Yates
Lightroom Quickstart

Classes Starting Soon!