"Seeing" In Black & White
[and finding Art in the Mundane]
November 24, 2012
[and finding Art in the Mundane]
November 24, 2012
What appears to be an insignificant, inconsequential, mundane moment interpreted monochromatically ---> in Blacks, Whites - and the Grays in between - is actually a smart, well-crafted On-the-Spot/On-the-Go portrait of my nephew [right] and his team mate on the way to a football match.
Notice the foreground, notice the 2 subjects and notice the background - and how the mentioned elements are blended together. Notice the countless tones of gray.
"Pahabol" itong kuha na'to [as in the vernacular]. I barely managed to convince my nephew and his companion to just look at me, at the last micro second or so, as they were about to board a sedan. Somehow, in those fleeting moments - I instantly noticed their reflection on the roof of the sedan and quickly recomposed my image to include the said reflection.
Clicked my shutter 3X and bade the dudes good bye. Glanced at my LCD screen - - -
Now - If the photo above is not an artistic Black & White image - I don't what is.
And as my subtitle suggests - One can always find and create [great] art from seemingly mundane, insignificant, fleeting, inconsequential moments. One simply has to be more observant of the environs [details/elements] and how they might be composed/combined/blended with the main subject[s] to create a great image. Being very familiar how the nuances of light will affect the elements in the picture - that does matter too.
Suffice it to say, my years of experience working with [analogue] [non-digitla] Color AND Black & White film, [in 35mm and 120 medium format] has always been priceless - Not the fanciest cameras nor the most advanced computer graphics/photo applications - can ever replace actual hands-on work with film.
And REAL Black &White Film Photography starts with "seeing" in black and white the potential final image even before one clicks the shutter. The "artistic process" continues with the composition of the image, the clicking of the shutter, the processing of the film, the printing of an analogue Black & White image on Black & White photo paper. No conveniences such as Digital Technology [such as Instant Image Checking [Chimping]. Yup, nothing like the skills from learning the "traditional way" and the conveniences of present day tech.
And again, at the risk of being redundant - Here are a few reposts [from previous entries] of some classic Black & White images from my film days:
Suffice it to say, my years of experience working with [analogue] [non-digitla] Color AND Black & White film, [in 35mm and 120 medium format] has always been priceless - Not the fanciest cameras nor the most advanced computer graphics/photo applications - can ever replace actual hands-on work with film.
And REAL Black &White Film Photography starts with "seeing" in black and white the potential final image even before one clicks the shutter. The "artistic process" continues with the composition of the image, the clicking of the shutter, the processing of the film, the printing of an analogue Black & White image on Black & White photo paper. No conveniences such as Digital Technology [such as Instant Image Checking [Chimping]. Yup, nothing like the skills from learning the "traditional way" and the conveniences of present day tech.
And again, at the risk of being redundant - Here are a few reposts [from previous entries] of some classic Black & White images from my film days:
brosi gonzales
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