Monochromatic Beauty

Some might argue, that the absence of color in the art of photography is the purest form of taking pictures since photography used to be black and white only in the early days, dating back to the early 1800s.  Even with the start of color film in 1936 by Kodak, monochrome was the way to go, color photography wasn't taken seriously in the beginning, this changed later on of course. 

While simply removing the color from the image, it won't be a better one if the composition is bad, or there isn't a need necessarily to remove the colors, just to be “artsy”. In my opinion, there has to be a reason why I chose to edit that particular image in black and white, oftentimes even considering it while I haven't even pressed the shutter, but I already know that this image will be simply more powerful without the colors.  

I only learned recently the true beauty, and purpose of black and white images, before that it was mostly a random choice in my editing process. 

Monochrome photographs carry a simplicity, which forces the viewer (and the photographer too), to focus on the most basic elements of the frame, like tones, shadows, contrasts, and composition. Sometimes colors are even a distraction from these elements and would draw away the focus of the viewer from the key points of the image. 

You have to rely on a very powerful composition and meaning, to convey the emotions to the viewer, also called “Visual Communication”. This means that the image itself is able to tell a story to the viewer on its own, or makes the viewer even question the meanings of the picture, but either way, it awakes certain emotions. 

This image particularly stands out to me, where the choice of a monochromatic edit was the best way to go, even though the ocean had gorgeous blue color, it would have distracted from the framing, the composition of the photographers, the bride in the middle, and the groom on the side, altogether creating a contrasting environment telling a story, which is easily understandable, and powerful.

Another great example is this picture of a family gathering shot in Bari, where the colors of the background and the baby blue car would have distracted from all the emotions and expressions on the faces of these people, which adds so much life to this still frame, and feels truly like a moment captured for eternity. 

For a long time, I used black and white images as an excuse because I didn't like the colors of the picture (sometimes it worked), but I learned to keep that in mind while composing the image and taking the shot, and having that vision beforehand. 

Hopefully, this gave you a little insight into my thoughts about monochrome images and encourages you to remove color more often to accentuate other parts of your images. 

Have a lovely day, and take some great pictures!