Matt Wisniewski is a NYC-based web developer who also happens to be an astounding visual artist. His collage work is incredibly inspiring and thought-provoking in its simplicity. Working with found imagery, Matt superposes different textures and colors with portraits and silhouettes. The work featured today is a series entitled Landscape, where majestic images of nature fill in the quiet, somber human silhouettes, creating haunting pieces of still life. I’m transfixed by the muted colors and simple textures of the chosen imagery and the play with geometry of the compositions. Matt also experiments with video, transferring the contemplative quality of his still collages into moving images… beautiful, hypnotic work.

These ethereal stills by Poland based photographer Mac Oller are calm, zen-line and minimal in composition. Oller uses long exposure technique photographing in poor lighting or with use of strong neutral density filters in order to achieve this effect of solitude and oneness. Here is how he describes his process: The difference between what one sees in reality and what can be seen in a picture, which can be considered a glimpse of the world captured by a photographer, is fascinating. When taking pictures I try to go beyond the boundries of a human eye and capture the flow of time. I like how simple and refined his palette is. With the few ingredients and a single undiluted idea, Oller makes these tranquille captures, preserving the fleeting beauty of the moment.

Hungarian born Akos Major, currently residing in Vienna, is a freelance graphic designer and amateur photographer. However, there is nothing amateur about this stunning photographic series entitled Lumen. Although I’m perfectly aware the summer time season is upon us, I was not prepared to wait a further six months before featuring this beautifully minimal winter series. Major looks to capture and display the spiritual and emotive textures that he sees in muted and often monotone landscapes across northern Europe. Although I feel Lumen is a wonderful representation of Major’s photography work, his exemplary portfolio will surely not disappoint. What do you think?

California and Chiang Mai based photographer and designer Toby Keller has created this quite stunning minimalist series of white photographs. Beautifully executed, the White series is primarily focused on underground car parks and coastal lines, illustrating serenity and spaciousness. I find there is such a calming effect browsing this series, which is perhaps surprising because in reality, calmness is not exactly something that is typically associated with a car park, for instance. Yet, it is here, which is testament to Keller’s work. Perhaps equally beautiful and inspiring, is his Black photographic series. Enjoy.

Iceland’s landscape in black and white; when photography is not about colours but about emotions. Fierce, stark and ethereal. This is how German photographer Michael Schlegel sees Iceland. An empty, primitive land where the only inhabitants are the elements of nature. The combination of simple frames and high contrasts with the wise choice of shutter speed captures the beauty of the landscape, the wind, the fog and the running waters. Schlegel’s project “Iceland” won first place in Fine Art/Landscape at the International Photography Awards. His work has been featured among many others in Black & White Magazine, Zoom Magazine and D-La Repubblica. His most recent exhibitions include Sylt & Iceland – Flo Peters Gallery, Germany and Iceland & Australia – Photo Münsingen in Switzerland.

With the theme of natural feminine beauty, the 2012 Pirelli Calendar was unveiled this week in New York. This edition features Mario Sorrenti‘s work (the first italian photographer chosen in the history of the 47-year old italian calendar), who deliberately chose to not portray the models in an ‘obviously’ sexy fashion, as claimed by him in an interview for WWD: Originally I thought I was going to do very sexy pictures, and when we got there I realized that I didn’t want the pictures to be sexy at all. Faithful to this year’s theme, the images are elegant compositions based on a simple formula: the combined textures of the naked skin, framed and enhanced by the natural elements of the Corsica island. Beautifully minimalistic.

Kevin Saint Grey is a photographer with a minimalist aesthetic. He says: Painters decide what to put into a work. Photographers decide what to leave out. In an way, his images are understimulating. This has the effect that you tend to ‘fill’ them with a little bit of yourself. Or, as one of his followers says in a testimonial: “I get lost in them.” I have collected just a very small sample of his work here; please do check out his full portfolio on Flickr or follow his blog. And in case you’re interested: prints can be purchased directly through the artist.

Once in a while I have to get up real early; to catch a plane, or to get some work done. And every time I leave the house at that early time, I am struck by the beautiful calmness of the morning. The air is refreshingly cold and humid, and the absence of noise makes you hear every sound. The photography of Michael Kenna has a similar effect on me. In the introduction of one of Kenna’s many books, photo critic Kohtaro Iizawa says it well: [Kenna's] images invite us into a silent world, depriving the viewer of the noises, one by one, with which the world is filled. I appreciate that.