Tuesday 11 September 2007

Monochrome


Not quite sure how this picture ended up black and white instead of full colour. But it seems appropriate since it was taken at a scouting centenary exhibition.
Seeing things in black and white is quite a novelty these days, photography wise - and quite stylish. Its hard to imagine that this kind of production would have once been very modern. As the philosopher says: What has happened before will happen again. What has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new in the whole world. (Ecclesiastes 1 v 9)
As I get older, less and less appears black and white. There are so many shades of grey. I wonder, is this a good sign or a sign of resignation and futility? I would contend that it is a sign of reality but also of optimism. Nothing appears in monochrome, there's always some light and shade. And, occasionally, glorious, dazzling technicolour.

2 comments:

  1. I'm in the middle of preparing for our youth group weekend away, and as part of it I'm giving them space to choose one image from a selection of photos I'm supplying. About half of them are black and white. There's something really powerful about that medium, like the absence of colour makes you focus more on the subject.

    FBL

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  2. Agree absolutely about black and white. You can't distract people with the colours. The composition and the tonal balance have to be right and the subject interesting or the photo doesn't work. When it does work, though, the results can be stunning. Of course, black and white is usually a misnomer. There are almost always shades of grey (as you said in another post.) And, of course, the best pictures of all are the ones on the radio!

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