Top 13 'Texture-Hunting' Abstract Photography Tips to practice with Your Smartphone on Your Next City Walk
Ever find yourself walking through the city on autopilot? You navigate the familiar streets, sidestep the usual obstacles, and arrive at your destination without really seeing anything along the way. It’s a common experience in our fast-paced lives. But what if I told you that hidden within that daily commute is an entire universe of artistic potential, waiting to be discovered?
This universe is one of texture, pattern, and form. It's in the cracked pavement beneath your feet, the peeling paint on a forgotten door, and the intricate shadows cast by a wrought-iron fence. Welcome to the world of abstract texture photography—a mindful practice that transforms any city walk into a creative treasure hunt. And the best part? The only tool you need is the smartphone already in your pocket.
Forget the pressure of capturing the "perfect" cityscape or street portrait. Texture-hunting is about celebrating the small, often-overlooked details that give a city its character. It’s about learning to see the world not just as a collection of objects, but as a tapestry of surfaces. In this guide, we'll explore 13 practical tips to help you master this art form and turn your next stroll into a visual adventure.
1. Get Close, Then Get Closer
The first rule of texture photography is to challenge your sense of scale. That unassuming brick wall or weathered wooden bench, when viewed from a distance, is just an object. But as you move closer, it transforms. The wall becomes a geometric landscape of rough surfaces and sharp lines; the bench reveals a story written in its deep grain and silvery patina.
Your smartphone is surprisingly adept at this. Don't be afraid to bring your lens just inches away from your subject. Use the tap-to-focus feature to lock onto a specific point of interest—a single paint bubble, a rust spot, or a deep crack. Fill your entire frame with the texture. The goal is to remove all context, so the viewer isn't seeing a "wall" or a "bench" anymore. They are simply experiencing a pure, abstract pattern of light, shadow, and surface.
Pro Tip: If your phone struggles to focus this close, try backing up slightly and using the 2x digital zoom. Modern smartphone cameras handle this much better than they used to, and it can often act as a pseudo-macro lens, allowing you to isolate details without casting a shadow with your phone.
2. Hunt for Raking Light
Light is the magic ingredient that brings texture to life. Flat, overhead light (like at high noon) can make surfaces look dull and uninteresting. What you’re looking for is "raking light"—light that comes from a low angle, skimming across a surface. This kind of light creates long, dramatic shadows in every tiny pit and crevice, exaggerating the texture and making it pop.
The golden hours, shortly after sunrise and before sunset, are a goldmine for this. As the sun hangs low in the sky, it casts a warm, raking light across everything. Look for how it hits the side of a building, a corrugated metal fence, or even the rough asphalt of the road. These moments turn the mundane into the magnificent.
Even on an overcast day, you can find directional light. Look for light coming from the side between buildings or under awnings. The soft, diffused light can create subtle, beautiful gradients across a textured surface, offering a moodier and more nuanced abstract shot.
3. Find Beauty in Decay and Wabi-Sabi
Perfectly smooth, clean surfaces can be interesting, but the real character is often found in imperfection. Actively seek out signs of age, wear, and decay. Think of rust staining a metal sheet, paint peeling away to reveal layers of history, or concrete crumbling at the edges. This is the essence of wabi-sabi—the Japanese aesthetic of finding beauty in the imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.
These subjects are fantastic for abstract photography because they are packed with unpredictable textures and organic patterns. Each crack, stain, and peel tells a story. When you photograph these details, you're not just capturing a surface; you're capturing a moment in time, a process of transformation.
So, on your next walk, challenge yourself to find the most "imperfect" surface. It could be a moss-covered step, a water-stained wall, or a scratched-up metal door. Frame it tightly, and you'll create a powerful abstract image that feels both raw and beautiful.
4. Isolate with Minimalist Composition
Abstract photography is often an exercise in subtraction. It's about removing everything that distracts from your core subject: the texture itself. To do this, think like a minimalist. Instead of trying to fit multiple elements into your shot, focus on just one dominant texture.
Fill the entire frame with that texture. If you're shooting a corrugated metal wall, don't include the sky above or the pavement below. Let the repeating lines of the metal be the entire photograph. This forces the viewer's eye to engage directly with the pattern and surface quality, without any other context to guide them.
This approach is incredibly effective for creating bold, graphic images. It emphasizes shape, line, and form. As I've often found in my own work, which you can see across the Goh Ling Yong blog, simplifying the composition often strengthens the final image, making it more impactful and memorable.
5. Leverage Your Phone’s Gridlines
Just because a photo is abstract doesn't mean it can't benefit from classic composition rules. One of the most helpful tools on your smartphone is the gridline overlay (you can usually turn this on in your camera settings). This grid divides your screen into nine equal rectangles, helping you use principles like the Rule of Thirds.
Even with a pure texture shot, placing a key feature—like a prominent crack, a bolt, or a change in color—along one of these lines or at an intersection can create a more balanced and visually pleasing image. The gridlines can also help you ensure your lines are perfectly straight.
For example, if you're photographing vertical lines on a fence or horizontal lines on a wooden deck, use the grid to align them perfectly. This precision can transform a casual snapshot into a deliberate, well-composed abstract piece. It adds a sense of order and intention to the frame.
6. Go Monochrome to Emphasize Form
Color can be a powerful tool, but sometimes it can also be a distraction. When your goal is to showcase pure texture, shadow, and form, converting your image to black and white is a game-changer. By removing color, you force the viewer (and yourself) to see the scene in a new way.
Without color, the interplay of light and shadow becomes the main event. Subtle variations in tone and the roughness of a surface become much more apparent. A vibrant, peeling paint texture might be about the clash of colors, but in monochrome, it becomes a study of flaking shapes and deep shadows.
Most smartphone cameras have a built-in monochrome filter you can shoot with directly. Alternatively, shoot in color and convert it later in an editing app. This gives you more flexibility to control the black and white conversion, adjusting the brightness and contrast of individual color channels for a more dramatic effect.
7. Play with Contrasting Textures
A fantastic way to make a texture stand out is to place it next to a contrasting one. Our eyes are drawn to differences, and placing a rough surface next to a smooth one creates instant visual tension and interest. This adds another layer of depth to your abstract compositions.
Keep an eye out for these juxtapositions in the urban environment. Look for a smooth metal handrail against a rough concrete wall, a single smooth leaf lying on gritty asphalt, or the reflection of a textured building in a smooth puddle of water.
When you frame your shot, try to have the line where the two textures meet act as a strong compositional element. It could be a diagonal line that cuts across the frame, leading the viewer's eye, or a clean horizontal split that divides the image into two distinct halves.
8. Change Your Perspective: Get Low, Get High
We spend most of our lives viewing the world from a height of five to six feet. To find unique abstract shots, you need to break free from this default perspective. The simple act of crouching down or looking straight up can reveal textures and patterns you would have otherwise walked right past.
Get low to the ground. The pavement itself is a canvas of cracks, stains, manhole covers, and painted lines. A low angle will also let you capture the texture of a curb or the bottom of a wall with raking light you might miss from a standing position.
Similarly, look up! The ceilings of underpasses, the undersides of bridges, and the geometric patterns of fire escapes against a building's facade are all rich sources of abstract imagery. This shift in perspective makes the familiar unfamiliar, which is the very heart of abstract art.
9. Use Reflections as a Textural Layer
Reflections are a gift to the urban texture-hunter. They add a layer of complexity and mystery to your images, blending two realities into one. Look for puddles, glass windows, polished marble walls, or even the shiny surface of a car.
A puddle on a textured sidewalk doesn't just reflect the sky or buildings above; it merges that reflection with the gritty surface of the pavement peeking through. A shop window can superimpose the reflection of a brick wall across the street onto the items inside the store, creating a multi-layered abstract scene.
When shooting reflections, play with your focus. You can tap to focus on the reflected image, leaving the surface blurry, or focus on the surface itself (like water droplets on the glass), letting the reflection become a soft, abstract background. Both can produce stunningly creative results.
10. Find the Rhythms in Repetition
The urban landscape is full of repetitive patterns that make for compelling abstract photographs. Repetition creates a sense of rhythm and harmony, drawing the viewer's eye into the image. Once you start looking for them, you'll see them everywhere.
Think of the perfect grid of a metal grate, the repeating bond of a brick wall, the uniform slats of a park bench, or the diamond pattern of a chain-link fence. These man-made patterns provide a strong geometric foundation for an abstract shot.
The most interesting shots often occur when this repetition is broken. Look for a single discolored tile in a pattern, a bent bar in a grate, or a piece of graffiti on a brick wall. This "break" in the pattern creates a focal point and adds a narrative element to your otherwise abstract image.
11. Don’t Ignore Nature’s Intrusion
Even in the most dense concrete jungle, nature finds a way. The textures created by nature creeping into the urban environment provide a powerful contrast to man-made surfaces. This juxtaposition of the organic and the geometric is a rich theme for abstract photography.
Look for moss or weeds growing in the cracks of a sidewalk, the intricate pattern of a leaf's veins on a concrete step, or the gnarled bark of a city tree trunk. The soft, chaotic, and unpredictable forms of nature create a beautiful visual dialogue when framed against the hard, straight lines of the city.
These small moments highlight the resilience of nature and add a touch of softness and life to your collection of urban abstracts. As I, Goh Ling Yong, often advise aspiring photographers, finding these small stories within the larger scene is what elevates a picture from a simple snapshot to a thoughtful photograph.
12. Post-Processing Is Your Creative Partner
Shooting the image is only half the battle; editing is where you can truly enhance and define the textures you've captured. A few simple adjustments in a mobile editing app like Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom Mobile can make your textures leap off the screen.
The most important tools for texture are Clarity, Structure, or Texture sliders (the name varies by app). These tools specifically enhance mid-tone contrast, which makes fine details and edges more pronounced without affecting the overall brightness of the image. A little boost here can make a world of difference.
Additionally, experiment with Contrast to deepen the shadows and brighten the highlights, and Sharpening to give the edges a little more crispness. Don't overdo it—the goal is to enhance, not to create an unnatural-looking image. A subtle, thoughtful edit can elevate your abstract photo from good to great.
13. Think in Abstract "Subjects"
To really get into the texture-hunting mindset, stop thinking about what you're photographing and start thinking in terms of abstract subjects. Instead of looking for "a door," look for "peeling lines." Instead of "a sewer grate," look for "a circular grid."
Give yourself a specific assignment for your walk. For example:
- "Today, I'm only shooting lines." You'll start noticing every crack, painted line, and shadow edge.
- "Today, I'm only shooting circles." Suddenly, manhole covers, bolts, and circular stains will pop out at you.
- "Today, I'm only shooting the color blue." You'll discover a world of blue textures on signs, doors, and faded paint.
This mental shift forces you to deconstruct the world around you into its base elements of shape, color, and form. It’s a powerful creative exercise that will permanently change the way you see your city.
Your City is Your Canvas
The beauty of texture-hunting is that it requires no special equipment, no exotic locations, and no grand subjects. It’s an art form of accessibility and mindfulness. It teaches you to slow down, to look closer, and to find extraordinary beauty in the most ordinary of places.
The next time you step outside with your smartphone, try leaving your usual photographic intentions behind. Don't worry about capturing the whole scene. Instead, challenge yourself to see only the surfaces. Hunt for a compelling texture, practice one of the tips above, and capture a small piece of your city’s hidden soul.
Now it's your turn. Pick one of these tips and try it on your next walk. Share your favorite abstract texture shots on Instagram and tag us—we’d love to see the hidden beauty you discover! What’s the most surprising texture you’ve ever found in your city? Let us know in the comments below
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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