‘Less is more,’ said Walter Gropius, Alberto Giacometti, Le Corbusier or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Though the slogan of minimalist art is attributed to many, the expression was first used in Robert Browning’s 1855 poem, ‘Andrea Del Sarto.’ As a movement, minimalism has its roots in post-World War II Western art, and had its most far-reaching effect on the American visual arts of the 1960s and 1970s.

There is something comforting in minimalism. By removing unnecessary details, artists working with a minimalist aesthetic instil their work with a balance and harmony that is responsible for a unique look. This attitude has come to bear its mark on diverse fields, from literature through film making to architecture and fashion. The formal idiom whose principle is ‘less is more’ found its application in photography as well, with the stylistic marks of minimalism present from neo-avant-garde endeavours to the Dusseldorf School.

Milad Safabakhsh, founding editor-in-chief of the Black and White Minimalism Magazine has been announcing the annual Minimalist Photography Awards competition since 2019 to highlight photographers who employ this reductive formal idiom to present their individual viewpoints and creative ideas.

In 2023, more than 3100 entries were submitted from 31 different countries, and the expert jury awarded prizes in 12 categories. The Minimalist Photographer of the Year 2023 title and the $2,000 cash prize was awarded to British photographer Martin Annand for his timeless series, Ashored. One of the categories, however, was won by a Hungarian artist. András Gáll was given the first prize of the Abstract section for his Geometric Compositions series, of which he said: ‘it is more an expression of my innate love for simple forms than the articulation of an idea.’

PaperLab Gallery presents 21 photographs, a selection of award winners that reveal powerful visual stories by removing distracting factors and relying on the interplay between light, shadow and the subject.