I have started reading Landscape Beyond: A Journey into Photography by David Ward. I’ve had it a few years now, but seemingly never read it when it arrived – I guess this is the problem with buying books online; by the time they’ve arrived, the original impetus might be gone and/or you are busy with something else.

The first chapter is about simplicity. I don’t know if I had that in mind, but I was looking out onto the back yard earlier today, and I liked the way the fountain was “sitting” in the snow and the winter sun was creating a shadow, and I wanted to try and make a picture. As happens, the sun immediately disappeared, or rather waxed and waned as a thin cloud moved over it. I made a number of exposures, and I think this one most gets what I had originally seen, been inspired by.

Of course, minimalism and simplicity are not exactly the same thing, but one is a subset of the other. Perhaps I can say minimalism can be one way to achieve simplicity. But then, I’m not sure this picture satisfies either. I need to keep reading the book, the rest of the chapters might help find the right word(s).