Huge sculpture of an angel with outstretched wings
Art,  Monochrome Madness,  Themed galleries

Gallery: seeing sculpture in black and white

July 12, 2024 / 43 Comments

A sculptor is a person obsessed with the form and shape of things

Henry Moore

Perhaps a photographer too is a person obsessed with the form and shape of things? Certainly in black and white photography, form and shape are essential if the image is to succeed. Without colour to define the subject, we rely more on those qualities to understand what we are seeing.

Our guest host for this week’s Monochrome Madness challenge, PR, has chosen the theme of Sculpture, bringing together the two media in a way that showcases those forms and shapes. It’s a subject I’m drawn to a lot, and I enjoy visiting sculpture parks such as our own UK one in Yorkshire and the excellent one in Hakone, Japan. I like both the sculptures themselves and the challenge of photographing them in a way that doesn’t merely record the work of the artist but also attempts to put my own stamp on it in some way. I’m also rather drawn to the Brutalist sculpture styles of past Communist regimes in Europe and today’s North Korea!

Shooting sculptures

Looking through my archives I realised that I often choose to edit photos of sculpture in monochrome. So while some of the shots below were edited specifically for this post, using my current go-to software of Silver Efex Pro, a few, mostly older, were either shot in black and white or post-edited with Photoshop Elements more limited conversion tool.

Some of these you will have perhaps seen before, either in colour or in monochrome as here. But I’ve tried to include some that will be new to you. I apologise that there are so many; do feel free to skim. I assure you, I could have filled a post three times this length and more. So I’ve actually been quite restrained!

Three abstract sculptures on a plinth in a field

‘Three Piece Reclining Figure No.1’ by Henry Moore, photographed at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Large metal foot in a field

Anthony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’, Gateshead, north east England

The full sculpture can be seen in my feature photo

Sculpture of a human figure

Anthony Gormley exhibition at Tate Modern, London

‘Infant’ by Dame Barbara Hepworth, photographed at her studio in St Ives, Cornwall

Modern marble sculpture of a baby
Large face sculpted from metal on a city street

‘Meditation 626’, by Seo Young-Deok, on the annual Mayfair Sculpture Trail, 2021, London

Tall sculpture of a couple embracing under an arched metal and glass roof

‘The Meeting Place’, St Pancras Station, London

This 9 metre high, 20 tonne bronze sculpture is intended to evoke the romance of travel

Sculpture of a woman's head with hair streaming behind her

‘Runners’ sculpture in Tromsø, Norway

This piece symbolises Norway’s Midnight Sun Marathon, the northernmost certified marathon in the world (Tromsø is full of ‘northernmosts’!)

Bust of a man on a plinth with a tiny laughing elf

Bust of Arthur Arntzen, a Norwegian journalist, humorist, actor and writer, in his home town of Tromsø, Norway

Outside a hostel for asylum seekers in Bodø, Norway

Sculpture of a mother and two children
Large sculpture of a seated man with head resting on his hand

‘The Thinker’ by Rodin, at the Rodin Museum in Paris

Detail of the ‘Horse and Rider’ sculpture by Charles Ray, outside the Bourse de Commerce in Paris

You can see the full sculpture, and this shot in colour, in my ‘Arty Walk’ in Paris

Metal sculpture of a man's face
Sculpture of a man and woman kissing

‘The Eternal Lovers’ in Tallinn, Estonia

In the gardens of the Real Alcázar, Seville

Classical statue of Mercury
Sculpture of a soldier holding a small child

Part of the massive Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, Bulgaria

Part of a large sculpture group on Mansudae Hill, Pyongyang, North Korea, commemorating the revolution against Japanese rule

Group of sculpted figures including adults and children
Sculpture of two men and a woman holding symbols above their heads

Sculpture showing the DPRK Workers Party’s three branches: industrial workers, farmers and intellectuals

In front of the Juche Tower, Pyongyang, North Korea

Memorial to the ‘victims of torture and ill-treatment during the colonial period’ in Uhuru Park, Nairobi, Kenya

The sculpture represents a young woman, a Mau Mau sympathiser, passing food to one of the freedom fighters in order to give her support to the cause. A sign nearby explains that it was the custom among the Mau Mau never to look at each other during such interactions, so that they couldn’t later identify and thus give away any of their fellow fighters, even if tortured.

Sculpture of a man and a woman
Sculpture of a huge hand holding a man

‘The Hand of God’ by Carl Miles at the Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan

‘La LibertÄ—’ by French sculptor Bourdelle, at the Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan

Large sculpture of a female figure holding a branch with leaves
Looking up at a statue of a woman holding a book and torch

The Statue of Liberty, New York City

The ‘Laughing Lincoln’ in Naperville, Illinois

Bronze sculpture of a man laughing
Head and shoulders of a worn sculpture

On the bridge approaching the south gate to Angkor Thom, Cambodia

43 Comments

Do share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you! And please include your name in case WP marks you 'anonymous' - thank you