Dereliction and decay are natural subjects for black and white photography. The lack of colour adds to a sense of aging, perhaps because we associate it with the photos taken by past generations. Also, the textures of decay stand out more when colour is subtracted.
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Sitting on the plane that brought us home from Mexico we were congratulating ourselves on our timing. Tomorrow would be the first of March, and spring, we thought, just around the corner. We should have known better! Although in the fairly recent past (most notably the lockdown spring of 2020) we’ve had some wonderful March weather, this time last year I was writing that, ‘With a slow start to the spring this year it’s felt at times as if March was coming in more like a polar bear than a lion!’ And so it was again this year.
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It is hard to resist the lure of flowing water. The movement and sound together seem to draw us like a magnet. As you approach a beach and hear the waves crashing on the shore, or follow a forest trail towards the sound of a waterfall, I bet you quicken your steps? I know I do!
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When Samuel Morse invented the Morse Code he wanted to assign the simplest codes to the most frequently used letters. To work out what those were he counted the number of letters in sets of printers' type. He found that the most commonly used letter was E, followed by T, then A.
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In the remote mountainous lands of Chihuahua state in northern Mexico the Rarámuri people of the Copper Canyon still enjoy a largely traditional lifestyle, despite the incursions of the modern world. We were privileged to be able to meet a Rarámuri family, one that has chosen to blend a traditional way of life with the benefits that tourism can offer.
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A black and white world is a strange world indeed, but then there is much in the world that seems strange to us. Different cultures, different landscapes, different architecture, different animals … and that is why we travel.
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Desmond Morris famously said that, ‘The city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo’. Yes, the people make the city, but when it comes to appreciating a city as a whole, rather than its individual streets and buildings (some of which may be beautiful, others less so), nothing beats getting up high.
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A circle is a symbol of unity, eternity, and harmony. When used in a photograph, circular elements give a sense of unity and evoke feelings of serenity and timelessness. An image with circles is usually a restful one.
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What is a good word? Is it a word that has a positive impact, which I’m sure was Herbert’s definition of the phrase? Or is it simply a word we like, one that is pleasing for its meaning, its sound or both?
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When you remove the colour from an image you see other aspects of your subject more clearly. Shape, form, texture all stand out more without the distraction of colour, and monochrome highlights the contrasts between them.
