Formalism is a critical and creative position which holds that an artwork’s value lies in the relationships it establishes between different compositional elements such as colour, line, and texture, which ought to be considered apart from all notions of subject-matter or context. Photographers focus on more than one thing in formal and visual elements such as line, shape, repetition, rhyme, balance etc but their main ones are flatness, frame, time and focus. These are some photos examples of formalism of that were took from photographers.
The key components of formalism are:
Line
This image is by Chris Yiu
Definition of line in photography is a straight or curved geometric element that is generated by a moving point and that has extension only along the path of the point. The type and general direction of lines in your image convey meaning inside the photograph.
Shape
This image is by Hanjin
Definition of shapes in photography is the visible makeup characteristic of a particular item or kind of item, spatial form or contour and a standard or universally recognized spatial form.
Form
This image is by Todd Vorenkamp
Form is three-dimensional. Form has overall height, width, and depth and is produced by the shadows and highlights on an object in a image in photography.
Texture
This image is by Todd Vorenkamp
Texture is the visual or tactile surface characteristics and appearance of something. Texture in the photograph is similar to form in that it is revealed by variations in tonality and presented in two dimensions. Texture can be elusive in a photograph, depending on the subject, the lighting, and the forms in the image.
Colour
Image by Todd Verenkamp
Definition of colour in photography is a phenomenon of light (such as red, brown, pink, or grey) or visual perception that enables one to differentiate otherwise identical objects and the aspect of the appearance of objects and light sources that may be described in terms of hue, lightness, and saturation for objects and hue, brightness, and saturation for light.
Size
Image by Todd Verenkamp
Definition of size in photography is a physical magnitude, extent, or bulk : relative or proportionate dimensions. The camera, lens, and print can render large objects small, or small objects large.
Depth
Image by Todd Verenkamp
Definition of depth in phography is the direct linear measurement from front to back. Depending on the quality of the surrounding air or atmosphere, distant objects in a photograph will have less clarity and contrast than objects in the foreground.