COLOUR CAME IN
In 2017 there was a break from many years of black and white photography into colour. It happened unintentionally when I introduced a good quality digital camera into my kit. This was to replace my 35mm film camera that previously died in the heat of Thailand. The idea was to have a more portable, technically advanced camera. This was to augment the larger and heavier Bronica 6x6 with lenses that had become the mainstay of my work.
With digital, monochrome was still to be the end result. Rather than go directly to a black and white setting in the camera, I decided to convert the shots to monochrome later. In this way more information is preserved giving many more options for exactly how the conversion from colour to black and white eventually looks.
Bringing Back The Colour
The surprise came when, whatever I did, for most photos, the monochrome version did not look as good as the colour one. In losing colour, some images seemed to be losing vitality. Black and white film never posed this problem. After years of practise, my eye habitually re-visualised the colours in the viewfinder as black and white.
That was the end of it. The film I used was only capable of rendering monochrome and I never saw a hint of the colour version again. With digital images, I was confronted with full colour in the editing stage that had to be willfully removed. Often that was fine but at least half of the pictures, for me, did not look so good without their blends of magenta, cyan and yelow. To begin with, established ideas were hard to dislodge and I doubted the validity of this personal impression.
I got stuck with this issue for a long time, keeping both colour and black and white versions without being able to choose between them. The dilemma was compounded by my lack of experience of working with colour and the fresh range of challenges this brought. From the selection of a subject through colour balance to presentation for the web, I was on a steep curve of learning. Eventually, I had to completely redesign my approach. Shooting colour had only a few similarities to shooting black and white. Colour added an extra, overwhelming dimension to a picture that I had to learn to handle and embrace.
Inner And Outer Are One
It was not only changing my approach, it was changing me. Black and white seemed all about elimination. After colour had gone out of the window, to fully utilise the impact of black and white, I kept compositions simple and stuck to the rules. In doing so, this 'me' embodied restriction. Inessential details were avoided in favour of the stark. As I worked, I became less frivolous, more serious. Then came a strong inclination towards abstraction, where the subject itself lost importance. Images began in realism but ended in mystery. The noise, chaos and activity of the world moved further away from the picture and from me. It was about meditation: a movement towards the void, a settling into silence and stillness.
On the other hand my new approach to colour felt buoyant and full of life. I seemed more outgoing, appreciating the subject and its function. I became less fussy. First about focus, dropping the ideal of having the whole image sharp from front to back. I even choose blur in some places. Secondly, about composition and placement, inviting more of the peripheral elements to intrude.
All photography has to be about selection but instead of rigorous elimination, my pictures became more about inclusion. In the process, I became more open. My vision widened and I enjoyed being out in the world amid the sounds of insects and movements of the wind. I was dancing with nature instead of penetrating its essence. At this point, I feel that black and white plumbs the depths and conveys essence. Colour is a celebration. Naturally, both have a place and change is always on the horizon.
With digital, monochrome was still to be the end result. Rather than go directly to a black and white setting in the camera, I decided to convert the shots to monochrome later. In this way more information is preserved giving many more options for exactly how the conversion from colour to black and white eventually looks.
Bringing Back The Colour
The surprise came when, whatever I did, for most photos, the monochrome version did not look as good as the colour one. In losing colour, some images seemed to be losing vitality. Black and white film never posed this problem. After years of practise, my eye habitually re-visualised the colours in the viewfinder as black and white.
That was the end of it. The film I used was only capable of rendering monochrome and I never saw a hint of the colour version again. With digital images, I was confronted with full colour in the editing stage that had to be willfully removed. Often that was fine but at least half of the pictures, for me, did not look so good without their blends of magenta, cyan and yelow. To begin with, established ideas were hard to dislodge and I doubted the validity of this personal impression.
I got stuck with this issue for a long time, keeping both colour and black and white versions without being able to choose between them. The dilemma was compounded by my lack of experience of working with colour and the fresh range of challenges this brought. From the selection of a subject through colour balance to presentation for the web, I was on a steep curve of learning. Eventually, I had to completely redesign my approach. Shooting colour had only a few similarities to shooting black and white. Colour added an extra, overwhelming dimension to a picture that I had to learn to handle and embrace.
Inner And Outer Are One
It was not only changing my approach, it was changing me. Black and white seemed all about elimination. After colour had gone out of the window, to fully utilise the impact of black and white, I kept compositions simple and stuck to the rules. In doing so, this 'me' embodied restriction. Inessential details were avoided in favour of the stark. As I worked, I became less frivolous, more serious. Then came a strong inclination towards abstraction, where the subject itself lost importance. Images began in realism but ended in mystery. The noise, chaos and activity of the world moved further away from the picture and from me. It was about meditation: a movement towards the void, a settling into silence and stillness.
On the other hand my new approach to colour felt buoyant and full of life. I seemed more outgoing, appreciating the subject and its function. I became less fussy. First about focus, dropping the ideal of having the whole image sharp from front to back. I even choose blur in some places. Secondly, about composition and placement, inviting more of the peripheral elements to intrude.
All photography has to be about selection but instead of rigorous elimination, my pictures became more about inclusion. In the process, I became more open. My vision widened and I enjoyed being out in the world amid the sounds of insects and movements of the wind. I was dancing with nature instead of penetrating its essence. At this point, I feel that black and white plumbs the depths and conveys essence. Colour is a celebration. Naturally, both have a place and change is always on the horizon.