I can’t tell you how many times I have walked into friends’ homes and I have been received by decor of a subdued colour palate: cream, taupe, pale grey - often enhanced by tastefully coordinated textures such as linens, basketwork, leather etc. all working in total harmony to produce supremely classy interiors. As a qualified interior designer I have a huge appreciation for these schemes, which seem so effortless, but in fact have been curated with much skill and an extremely good eye.
I find the absence of colour hugely inspiring - yes, that’s me, the Queen of Colour talking!!
With my reputation for colour, you might be surprised to read that my own bedroom, my night-time retreat, is wonderfully calm: cream linen curtains, edged with an ornate beaded trim bought in Dubai’s textile souk. A silk taupe throw drapes over the bed and the room’s art is likewise soothing - to encourage calmness at the end of my busy days.
However - the rest of my home, like my macro images, is ablaze with colour, at the turn of every single corner! I can’t restrain myself - I am synonymous with colour and it makes my heart sing!
But, as with my bedroom, might I manage a degree of restraint in my photography and venture into black and white territory? Most definitely!
Historically, in the days of film, black and white prints were produced attentively by artisans who often had captured the images themselves. They invariably worked in cramped rooms, mixing the chemicals in their pursuit of magic. But it wasn’t merely a technical exercise - the monotone approach was a means of personal and emotional expression.
This appreciation for striking, sometimes sensuous, black and white images, is ever present.
The digital era has given us expansive scope to embrace our personal style and has facilitated experimentation without the requirement for film and its associated costs. With the aid of software we can fine tune, not only our colour, but our black and white images, as was the case in the dark room - converting colour into ethereal grey and silver tones, accentuating details often overshadowed by colour. Yes, colour, with all its gaiety, can risk to dominate the detail of our subjects.
Experiment by viewing a selection of black and white images and likewise a selection in colour. Does each genre evoke the same reaction in you? Are you equally aware of the detail in colour images as you are in those of black and white photos?
Taking the above process a step further, a personal black and white project could be an exercise on which to embark with your camera. In reducing the colour palette you might be surprised to find your senses are further heightened: enhancing skills such a lighting and focus selection which can subsequently be applied to your colour images?
Unlike with the weather, a grey day need certainly not be a gloomy day!
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Thank you for your interest and let’s see what we can learn together.