I spent a solid hour browsing through a single photographer's account on 500px last night. This, for a photo editor who spends all his time looking at beautiful photography, is not normal -- but Seattle-based Scott Rinckenberger's work is anything but 'normal.'
Landscape photography is, according to some, suffering from a few plagues at the moment: over-processing, over-saturation, over... everything. Browse through the most popular landscape work online, and you quickly become numb to the beauty your eyeballs are trying to ingest.
Rickenberger's work stands out because you simply can't get numb to it. It's impossible. He calls his style "immersive and minimal," and his black and white work in particular is riveting -- hence the hour I spent lost in his portfolio drinking deep from images like these.
On his 500px About page, Rinckenberger describes the minimal approach he takes to adventure and fine art landscape photography:
My photographic method is immersive and minimal. I incorporate photography into adventures. I carry a very small kit and try to cover as much ground as possible on foot, skis and bikes. It is through this kinetic mode that I find my images, or they find me.
In a genre that has been criticized for lacking a message to go with the beauty, Rinckenberger's images overflow with story. And now, in the name of minimalism, I'll get out of the way and let you enjoy his work for yourself.
To see even more of Rinckenberger's work -- both black & white and otherwise -- check out his 500px profile, visit his website, or give him a follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. He also blog regularly here.
This post originally appeared on the 500px ISO blog