Why less is sometimes more…
Go into any electronics store and you’ll see displays touting all the colours that can be displayed by the latest phone, TV and computer screens. The display you’re reading this on likely can reproduce nearly 16 million colors. These screens are the pinnacles of technological achievement or so the advertising would have us believe.
So what possesses some photographers to throw away all this information to create monochromatic (aka black and white) pieces that remain immensely popular despite today’s hyper-colourful digital world?
Timeless Appeal
All human art began as a monochromatic endeavor. Witness the cave paintings and petroglyphs scattered around the world: patterns and everyday scenes distilled into their very essence of shape and form. Stories told through lines and textures.
Certainly the advent of colour pigments and much later, colour photographic film enabled artists to use our universal emotional responses to colours to layer more meaning into their compositions; but not every story need be so visually complex and they are no less elegant for being so. Even monochromatic imagery created today using the most complex imaging technology somehow conjures a sense of timelessness and universality we all relate to both consciously and perhaps also subconsciously. Monochromatic images imply a certain imperviousness to trends and fads and speak instead to our most basic desire to communicate.
Elegant Simplicity
There is nothing basic about a well crafted monochromatic image however. The absence of colour belies the artistry involved in distilling subjects to their very essence using only light and shadow to reveal form and texture.
When colour is a big part of how we relate to a subject, its removal creates a more abstract feel and opens new doors for artistic expression and interpretation. Viewers can connect with the mood and atmosphere of the image more easily. Compositional choices such as subject positioning, depth cues and framing assume even greater importance. When well executed the result is an image that invites the viewer to spend some time appreciating the visual eloquence of its creator in telling their story. In today’s relentlessly rapid-scrolling world, any image that commands more than cursory inspection is a win.
Portraits
One photographic genre particularly well suited to monochrome is portraiture. In both human society and the natural world staring for too long at a face is considered rude at best and a direct threat at worst; especially in the case of large predators such as bears.
Monochrome portraits allow us to do just that however. Removing colour from the equation allows the viewer to search for something about the subject that is more than skin deep. Focussing on facial features, expression, and gesture invites the viewer to discern something of the subject’s character and gives the experience perhaps a richer, deeper feel.
Everybody Gets It
Finally, monochrome prints work brilliantly for home decor. Regardless of age or cultural heritage, everyone just gets black and white. People seem to innately understand the power of pure black to suggest mystery, depth, power and finality. Similarly white universally suggests purity, insight, optimism and beginnings. The visual intensity and emotional impact of pure black contrasted with pure white scales with size – the bigger the print the more visually impactful. Whether you’re looking for a classic or contemporary feel, moody and dark, or bright and buoyant, monochrome prints have you covered – and as a bonus they go with everything!
Come on over to my collection of monochrome prints to see if you agree.
