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Knolling is a style of photography where objects are neatly arranged (usually on a flat surface) and captured from a 90-degree angle. The end result is a visually satisfying composition that provides a sense of order and harmony.
The craft is commonly associated with design and creative communities, but there's one on Reddit that stands out for its diverse gallery.
Created back in 2013, it now has 96,000 members, who have shared plenty of interesting pictures of food, tools, Legos, and pretty much everything else you can imagine, reminding everyone that things are still within our control. At least, mostly.
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#1
Contents Of A Croatian Firetruck
Mila Preradović 2 years ago
I remember this challenge, someone started it on social network, next thing you know, first responders all around the world were taking pictures like this. Oh and this is from my city 🥰🥰
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#2
A Police Department With A Sense Of Humor
Despite its popularity, the origins of knolling are quite young. The word is believed to have been coined in 1987 by Andrew Kromelow, who, at the time, was a janitor in Frank Gehry’s Santa Monica studio.
Gehry himself was working on furniture designs for Knoll, the US furniture manufacturer whose reputation was founded on the boxy, modernist designs of Florence Knoll.
Perhaps in a gesture of respect to Knoll’s angular designs, or as the result of an obsessive impulse, Kromelow set out to organize the tools that weren't being used at the studio and laid them out at the right angles to each other and to the edges of the work surfaces.
#3
Saw This On Another Sub, Thought You Guys Would Enjoy This. Or Is This Not Really Knolling?
#4
This Is What I Use To Shoot Wildlife
#5
Geometrically Cut Chocolate
It allowed the worker to see all the tools at once and to easily understand sizes and uses, everything seen in relation to everything else.
Tom Sachs, who was also working in Gehry’s furniture studio at the same time, adopted the method, and it was Sachs who formulated the first "rules" of knolling.
#6
I Knolled My Beach Finds!
#7
Every Produce At Stolychnyi Market, Kyiv, Ukraine
#9
At Rokin Metro Station In Amsterdam, The Netherlands, They Are Showing All The Archeological Artifacts They Found During The Construction Of The Line (Opened In 2018). Sorry For The Poor Photo, It Is Located Between Moving Escalators
Here is a scan of a page from his notebook (1989) in which he describes how to aesthetically keep your belongings:
- Scan your environment for materials, tools, books, music, etc. which are not in use.
- Put away everything not in use. If you aren't sure, leave it out.
- Group all 'like' objects.
- Align or square all objects to either the surface they rest on, or the studio itself.
#10
Typewriter By Todd Mclellan
#11
I Know This Isn't A Perfect Fit To This Sub, But I Thought You Might Still Appreciate My Granddad's Tool Shed :)
#12
I Arranged My Cherry Tomatoes
#13
All The Shapes Found In The World's Flags
Today, we see knolling in many places but some people also call it 'flat lays. '
Reddit aside, Instagram is awash in knolling too. Then there are various catalogs and product photography, commercials, and, of course, Apple stores!
#14
The Handmade Tool Chest Of Henry O. Studley (1838-1925), Organ And Piano Maker
#15
Everything Inside A Dutch Hospital Emergency Room (#tetrischallenge) [2000x1500]
![Everything Inside A Dutch Hospital Emergency Room (#tetrischallenge) [2000x1500]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/654caf785cb8d_t9txzz2fzqo31__700.jpg "Everything Inside A Dutch Hospital Emergency Room (#tetrischallenge) [2000x1500]")
#16
All Those Hex Keys That Come With Furniture And Only Get Used Once
#17
Here's What's Inside A Swiss Police Car
#18
LEGO Ideas #028 Set 21320
#19
My First Old Camera, Took Me 2 Weeks To Find A Composition I Was Happy About
#20
I Grew Some Potatoes In Buckets During The Last Few Months, Then Knolled The Crop From Each Bucket
#21
LEGO 007 Aston Martin Db5 - Knoll Time To Die
#22
Sorted Some Similar Shells At The Beach A Few Years Back
#23
He Calls It ‘Line Up’
#24
Imperfect Knolling? I Just Like Arranging Neat Organic Things From My Yard!
#25
All 7541 Pieces Of The Ucs Millennium Falcon!
#26
Czech Police Riot Unit
#27
We're Living By A Very Remote Estuary/Beach And This A Knoll Of Our Recent Evening Walks At Low Tide
#28
After The Dutch Police Car, Now A Military Medical Boxer From The Royal Netherlands Army
#29
Finally Got Around To Knolling Our Junk Drawer
Marcos Valencia 2 years ago
Congratulations! You just destroyed the magic inside the junk drawer...
#30
Another Swiss Emergency Service: Dog Police Crew Setup
#31
The Contents Of A Transavia Airplane
#32
My Dice Hoard
#33
The Contents Of A Preschool Teacher’s Apron Pockets At The End Of An Average Day
#34
I’m In College, And My Grandmother Occasionally Sends Me “Care Packages.”
#35
Me With Gear And Equipment For The Armed Forces Of Ukraine Donated By Redditors Over The Month Of September
#36
Contents Of A Dutch Police Van
#37
A Venezuelan Immigrant Mother. Taken From The Un Refugee Instagram Account
#38
Comparing The Color Distribution Of Two Mini Packs Of Smarties
#39
Lithuanian Firefighters
#41
The Swedish Sar Helicopter Run By The Swedish Maritime Administration Are Also Participating In The New Trend
#42
I Found This Monstrosity On Facebook. Lol
#43
I Fish For Metal With Magnets! This Is All Of The Stuff From My Last Trip!
#44
My Version Of The Spice Drawer
#45
1969 Piece LEGO® Nasa Apollo Saturn V #21309 Knolling. I Had Read That Knolling Is "Doubling The Fun". After This Experience, I'll Have To Respectfully Disagree... Can't Wait For The Next One!
#46
Student's Dorm
Tempest 2 years ago
So many screwdrivers and all sorts of random stuff. How many years have the occupants of this room been living there?? If you arranged some of my batch mates rooms’ contents out like this you’ll get about 70 pairs of shoes from one room (between two roommates). My roommates and I too would have an unholy amount of shoes and clothes.
#47
Backpacking For The Weekend (The Excessive Amount Of Cliff Bars Are For My Friends)
#48
From My Son's Pockets
#49
My LEGO Clone Army
sam (they/them) 2 years ago
144, i believe. 36(3*12) on the left, 72(6*12) in the middle, and 36(3*12) on the right.
#50
Leaving For Antarctica In 3 Hours!
#51
Singapore Civil Defence Force Shows What’s Inside Their Fire Engines!
#52
Royal Malaysian Air Force, 18th Squadron F-18d Hornet
#53
My Yellow Things
#54
I Heard You Like Swiss Emergency Services: Here Is The Picture Of A Firetruck From The Local Fire Department Of Thusis
#55
Contents Of An Amsterdam Ambulance (From R/Thenetherlands)
#56
My Flute Collection
#57
Knolling Nerds
#58
Israeli Air Force - Winner Winner
#59
I Knolled The Heart Of A Romaine Heart
#60
60 Years Ago, The Hague Fire Brigade Received A New Fire Engine
#61
My Just-Cleaned Gear For Traditional (Trad) Rock Climbing
#62
All The Pins That Held My Hair Together At Graduation
#63
Patrol Ship Of Rijkswaterstaat (The Directorate-General For Public Works And Water Management) In The Netherlands Doing The #tetrischallenge [2048x2048]
![Patrol Ship Of Rijkswaterstaat (The Directorate-General For Public Works And Water Management) In The Netherlands Doing The #tetrischallenge [2048x2048]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/654cae69511a1_neelzvi07pn31__700.jpg "Patrol Ship Of Rijkswaterstaat (The Directorate-General For Public Works And Water Management) In The Netherlands Doing The #tetrischallenge [2048x2048]")
#64
A Friend’s Daughter Organized Her Candy By Category, Size, And Color
#65
Was Told You Guys Might Enjoy My Satsuma
#66
The States Of The U.S
#67
Thought I’d Share My Typical Setup For Spinal Cord Surgery
cerinamroth 2 years ago
Thank you for your dedication! Even just seeing the needle for the spinal block before my C-sections put me in awe once again of anaesthetists and surgeons everywhere!
#68
What Anesthesiologists Put Inside Of You For Routine Surgeries
#69
I Dismantled My Clock For Final Finishing. Decided To Make It Pretty In The Meantime
#70
Swedish Mountain Ranger Prepared To Cross Greenland
#71
Indoor Rock Climbing Holds
#72
I Created This Exploded View Of My Sisters Dead iPhone
#73
Ready For Our Flu Shot Clinic!
#74
The Contents Of One Of My 6 Year Old Daughter's Coat Pockets
#76
Posted This In R/Gardening And Was Referred Here. Til About Knolling
#77
Contents Of An Rnli Seven Class Lifeboat
#78
Elite Xbox Controller Broke, Soooooo
Jonnathan Poirier 2 years ago
Instead of finding and fixing what was most likely a small problem you destroyed a expensive controller 😔
#79
My Girlfriend Knolled Some Of Her Favourite Things, And This Is The Result!
#80
Just Discovered This Sub. I’m About To Do The “Blues Dad” Equivalent Of Building My Own Lightsaber — Painting, Wiring And Piecing Together A Custom Stratocaster
#81
Strawberry Seed Knolling
#82
Contents Of A Dutch Police Motorcycle
#85
One Semester Worth Of Pen Recharges
cerinamroth 2 years ago
Don't do what I did if your Japanese notes get wet in the rain and dry them with a hairdryer!!! The Frixion ink was, of course, gone in seconds. What an idiot!
#86
Ready For My Triathlon!
#87
Trash Required For One Cup Of Coffee From Aloft Hotels
#89
Quick Knoll While Bored In Meeting
#90
Cleaning Beer Taps
Jonnathan Poirier 2 years ago
Once found out a place I worked only did this like once a month. I found out and started staying after closing to clean the taps. Also did the soda fountain. 🤢
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What do you think ?
WindySwede 2 years ago
Come on BP. I thought you where better than this? Using 'OCD' as something quirky? Can't you say something like "look at these beautiful orderly pictures" without mixing in an disorder into it? Wiki: "Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an obsession) and feels the need to perform certain routines (compulsions) repeatedly to relieve the distress caused by the obsession, to the extent where it impairs general function.[7][1][2]"
Your fav(?) nerd (they/any) 2 years ago
i love doing this with my collection of random things. I have like rocks and buttons and seashells and coins and like a ton of random little things its so satisfying
WindySwede 2 years ago
Come on BP. I thought you where better than this? Using 'OCD' as something quirky? Can't you say something like "look at these beautiful orderly pictures" without mixing in an disorder into it? Wiki: "Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts (an obsession) and feels the need to perform certain routines (compulsions) repeatedly to relieve the distress caused by the obsession, to the extent where it impairs general function.[7][1][2]"
Your fav(?) nerd (they/any) 2 years ago
i love doing this with my collection of random things. I have like rocks and buttons and seashells and coins and like a ton of random little things its so satisfying
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