a case for black and white
09/20/2019
"So why do you always shoot in black and white?"
Somebody asked me this the other day while I was sharing photos from my digital camera. A question that unwittingly sent me off into a good ol' fashioned journey of philosophical self-reflection.
My love/preference for monochrome stems from two things: my childhood and how I interpret photography. All my life I've grown up with black and white media. Portraits by Jane Bown, Vietnam war photos shot on Tri-X, Ansel Adams' monumental prints of Yosemite. Hell, even the entirety of the Twilight Zone series! Monochrome and seeing light as shades of gray has always appealed and come naturally to me.
"So why do you always shoot in black and white?"
Somebody asked me this the other day while I was sharing photos from my digital camera. A question that unwittingly sent me off into a good ol' fashioned journey of philosophical self-reflection.
My love/preference for monochrome stems from two things: my childhood and how I interpret photography. All my life I've grown up with black and white media. Portraits by Jane Bown, Vietnam war photos shot on Tri-X, Ansel Adams' monumental prints of Yosemite. Hell, even the entirety of the Twilight Zone series! Monochrome and seeing light as shades of gray has always appealed and come naturally to me.
As for how I interpret photography, I see my work as a way to document memories. A medium to recall a time and experience that you once had and can never relive again. The photos I take are a representation of my memories of events as well. When it comes to recalling past events, one is always missing the little details. You may remember the actions of an individual or where they were, but perhaps not always their outfit or what was happening in the background. The minutiae of everyday life.
Black and white photography, to me, represents that loss of detail. Lack of color allows one to emphasize the subject, their actions, and the composition while leaving a sense of the unknown within the frame. My goal, when it comes to photography, is to capture a timeless moment. Candids that tell a story but also leaves the audience full of questions. Or even better yet, entices them to use their imagination to fill in the blanks: The colors, the time of day, the weather, anything that allows the viewer to engage with the work produced.
Black and white photography, to me, represents that loss of detail. Lack of color allows one to emphasize the subject, their actions, and the composition while leaving a sense of the unknown within the frame. My goal, when it comes to photography, is to capture a timeless moment. Candids that tell a story but also leaves the audience full of questions. Or even better yet, entices them to use their imagination to fill in the blanks: The colors, the time of day, the weather, anything that allows the viewer to engage with the work produced.
So, what did I say after someone asked me that fateful question?
I paused for a second.
I looked at them in the eyes,
and lamely replied:
"Uh, it's cool I guess."
- kdo
I paused for a second.
I looked at them in the eyes,
and lamely replied:
"Uh, it's cool I guess."
- kdo