You might say I’m addicted to color. Apart from a single roll of black and white film I shot in the early ’90s when I had to “use up” a roll of film after having taken several portraits of my then-husband for a company newsletter, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the world monochromatically. Although J and I often joke that black and white photography is synonymous with “art,” I see the world in full technicolor splendor: the more (and the brighter) colors, the better.
You can understand, then, why I laughed when I saw last week’s Photo Friday theme, Monochrome. “Oh, they’re going to get flooded with black & white art shots,” I thought to myself, and I figured I’d have nothing to contribute. But in the almost-week since last week’s Photo Friday theme was announced, I double-checked the definition of “monochrome.” If interpreted in its loosest sense, “a painting, drawing, or photograph in a single hue” could refer not just to a black and white image, but also to an image that is all-green or all-blue.
So today’s offering is a lush-green image of a rosette of new pokeweed leaves, and an accompanying image of an all-blue section of empty seats at Gillette Stadium before a New England Revolution soccer game. Each of these monochromatic images contains enough color to sate my color-addicted fancy, although I have to admit an unabashed fondness for this dichromatic version of those Gillette Stadium seats. Some addictions die hard.
Jun 18, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Love the dichromatic one, too! I love color. My eyes were popping out of my head in Mexico. Since then, the more colorful the better!
LikeLike
Jun 18, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I do like the first two photos the best. But I’m with you in feeling unable to get away from color most of the time, and not really wnating to. I admire black-and-white photography but don’t really have an eye for it.
LikeLike
Jun 18, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I like all of these, but the green one would be may favorite.
I can manage to make a passable black and white shot of a person, but I’ve never been real fond of black-and-white nature shots.
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 12:37 am
At my age, I have to be amused at the b&w photo as art. In the real world past, one shot b&w because 1) it was a helluva lot cheaper than color, 2) it was much more permanent than color, and 3) decent color prints were either a lot of work (or expensive) plus the color was fugitive. The digital image has freed those of us who wallow in color!
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 6:04 am
Loren may be on to something about color and nature shots – the best b&w images I’ve seen have been city scenes.
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 7:59 am
I love color, too! It’s more of a challenge to find an image naturally monochromatic, (not by turning it grayscale or single color in Photoshop. (I voted for you at Photo Friday!)
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 10:35 am
Your photography is just wonderful.
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 10:58 am
Yes, I think both Loren & Leslee are on-target. I love Lucas Green‘s b&w photography, for instance…and his are urban scenes with people. The b&w format “works” for these shots: Lucas Green has an eye for that genre. But b&w nature photography, to my eye, usually looks like a ripoff of Ansel Adams, and I don’t live in an Ansel Adams landscape. Few of us do!
I think it’s a matter of “eyes”: some eyes are drawn to particular things, other eyes to others. I don’t “see” the world, when I shoot, in terms of shade, which is what monochrome focuses on…but I do see the world, when I shoot, in terms of texture and angularity.
So what drew my eye to the pokeweed rosette was the texture of overlapping leaves and veining. What drew my eye in both Gillette Stadium shots was the angularity of the lined rows. What I love about that last dichromatic shot isn’t necessarily the juxtaposition of red & blue…it’s the angularity of the black gap separating them.
I think I love Lucas Green’s shots because he sees the world with different “eyes” than I do. I guess that’s all we can ask of photography, ultimately: a glimpse into someone else’s world with someone else’s eyes.
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Interesting. I like your monochromes.
One thing that I’ve liked about shooting digital is the possibility of turning color images into black-and-white images. As a result of periodically turning images into B&W, I’ve gotten a better sense of what does and does not work as a black-and-white image. For me it’s a lot about contrasts and composition – which, if I think about it, describes my color photography as well. I’ve been learning to focus (heh, literally!) on isolating the elements of a scene to throw them into higher relief (something essential with Midwestern landscapes, which are much “messier” than my childhood mountains, coasts and deserts). Sometimes black-and-white does a better job of reducing distractions than color does.
LikeLike
Jun 19, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I’ve never “converted” a color photograph to B&W: I know it’s possible, but I’ve just never tried it. I think you’re exactly right, though, in saying the “secret” to a good photo is learning to focus your viewer’s attention on an isolated “something” that is interesting. I think this is what separates a good photo from “just” a snapshot: a good photo directs your eye in a particular direction through contrast, composition, or whatever.
This is part of what I meant in my previous comment when I mentioned my fondness for angularity. I love shooting images askew because the diagonal lines–the angles–draw your eye in a way that seems more interesting (to me) than pure right angles. Straight things look posed to me, like snapshots. Angled things look like they’re moving, like there’s “life” in the image.
LikeLike
Jun 21, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I have done a couple of lengthy blog entries about photography, and color (and B&W). I am not fond of black and white particularly, but I have no problem with monochromatic color. When I walk out the door, I see color. I don’t even know what photographers mean when they say the “see” something in black and white.
I coverted a couple of images or so, merely to qualify them for a category in the fairs where I’ve entered images. I don’t plan to make it a habit.
the image of the leaves is striking.
LikeLike