Black and White In The Digital Age

     It seems most of my photographic friends are heavily enamored with nature photography. I guess that it kind of goes with the season. Summer is an awesome time to be outdoors enjoying the abundance of life. It seems every time I open a social media feed, I'm inundated with a plethora of bird pictures, wildlife images, flower pictures, and photos of nature in general. 

     Don't get me wrong. I have a tremendous appreciation of the wildlife and nature genre. I know how much dedication and skill is required to photograph wildlife and the beauty of the natural world around us. I am seeing some amazing work from some highly skilled shooters.

    Maybe it's the rebellious streak in me, I tend to zig when others zag. I've been shooting a lot of black and white lately. While most of my photographic compatriots are trekking down trails and paddling lakes and rivers to capture the abundant colour, wildlife and overall beauty of the summer season, I'm hitting the mean streets of Greater Metropolitan Paris, Ontario (among other places) to capture the gritty life of the urban jungle! Yup! I'm a tough-ass street photographer in small town Ontario! On the plus side, I'm usually not too far away from a really good cup of coffee.

    

    Like I said earlier, I've been shooting a lot of black and white lately. I honestly believe that every photographer should spend a good chunk of time shooting predominantly in black and white. Perhaps six months to a year at least. I did my first tour of black and white duty back in the dinosaur days of film and, in some ways, I'm still doing it. By eliminating the saving grace of colour, my visual acuity opens up. I no longer have the pretty colours to save what would otherwise be a boring picture. I'm forced to start utilizing other visual elements. Things like composition, contrast, shape, form, line and texture.

 

      One of the questions I ask myself when looking at a colour photograph is, "It's a nice shot, but would it hold up in black and white?" It's not necessarily the main criteria for judging a photograph, but it's a good place to start. Here's an example. 

    Regular readers of this blog will recognize the above photo. It was featured in a blog post from March of this year. https://refractivereasoning.blogspot.com/2021/03/on-photographic-expression.html  

Here's the same shot in black and white.

        In my opinion, the colour photo has a little more impact simply because it features the beautiful golden colour of the light against a dismal overcast sky. However, despite the lack of colour, the visual elements are still there. We've got the contrast of a blast of light coming through an overcast sky, the reflection of light on the wet pavement and concrete bridge rail, the roadway, sidewalk and bridge rail all providing depth to the image and functioning as leading lines to the buildings downtown. The black and white version still stands on its own. Some viewers might even prefer it to the colour shot.

    Here's an even more radical example.

    Ok it's a sunrise photo. It's absolutely gotta have the beautiful gold and orange colours right? Not necessarily. Again, good composition comes into play.                                                                  

     The silhouette of the tree is placed almost perfectly on the line of the rule of thirds and the quilted sky in gray still provides enough interest to engage the viewer. Admittedly it doesn't have quite the impact of the original in colour, but it still stands on its own as a very good shot.

    The beauty of digital photography is that achieving a good black and white look is easier than ever. I've completely made the switch to mirrorless cameras and I've never been happier. Most mirrorless cameras feature an electronic viewfinder. So if the camera is in a black and white mode, I can see the subject or scene in all its monochromatic glory before I even trip the shutter. 

     Also I shoot Fujifilm cameras. They have digital film simulation modes that actually allow me to achieve results that are as good if not better than what I could produce after spending hours in a darkroom in the days of film. That huge gulping sound you may have heard is a whole lot of film photographer/darkroom tech pride being swallowed. I don't care. Photography is a results oriented activity. In the words of American photographer Garry Winogrand, "It's about the work. It's always about the work. "In the words of Gord Barker, "No one cares how you got the shot as long as it's a good shot!" Not entirely true. I care about how you got the shot. But, then again, I'm a full blown photofreak!

      Working in black and white is akin to learning a new language. Someone once told me that you know you're becoming fluent in a new language when you begin to think in that language.  I'm kinda getting that way with black and white photography.  I used to look at a scene through the camera and think ''I wonder how this would look in black and white.'' Now, much of the time the camera is preset to black and white when I put it to my eye and I think, ''I wonder how this would look in colour!'' For me, black and white is as much  a default go to as colour is. 

Ok so this shot was taken in Cambridge not Paris but you get the idea

    So while my compatriots are out in the boonies, composing lovely photos of wildlife and nature, I'll be working the hard gritty streets of small town Ontario. You know, where the denizens do such strange things as eating ice cream, sipping iced coffee on outdoor patios, chatting with passersby and walking very friendly dogs. 

    Wish me luck, It's a jungle out there!

                                    ...more later

     

     

    

       

    

    

     

Photographic Friends - Luvern Mornin

    Don't ever tell Luvern Mornin that she can't do something! She will prove you wrong nine times out of ten. Case in  point. I remember the two of us getting together for coffee and some  photography. For us, those two things always seem to go hand in hand. We don't do ANYTHING without coffee!  We grabbed a couple of take-out coffees and she asked,  ''Where do you want to go? '' I responded with something like ''I don't know. Let's just see what's out there." We ended up in her car, cruising the backroads, looking for an interesting scene or something ... anything... to photograph. Late afternoon light turned into golden hour. As we crested a hill in the road, she pulled the car over to the side. ''I want to get this'' She grabbed her camera and got out of the car. I got out too.

    The light was beautiful. Golden late afternoon light was reflecting off the pavement of the road and the power lines stretching off in the distance. We had parked beside a gravel quarry. To our right was a short slope to the edge  of the property. It was festooned with a seemingly never ending line of ''No Trespassing'' signs. Without a second thought she started to climb the slope and walk a little ways past the signs. I called out, ''You probably shouldn't go in there!'' She pretended not to hear me. I contented myself with taking a few nice shots from the relative security of the shoulder of the road near the car. 

     When we got back in the car, we used the back screens of our cameras to compare our pictures. My pictures were pretty good. ("Pretty ain't good enough!) Her's were great! I had photographed a beautifully lit road. By working a little harder and finding a better angle, she had photographed the same road but in context to the scene through which it travelled. Her photos were more dynamic. They had more depth. Where I had taken a couple of shots, she had composed a photograph! I asked her if she was concerned about going a bit  beyond the "No Trespassing" signs. Her response was something to the effect of "Nah. What's the worst that could happen? They'd throw me out?"  The lesson was not lost on me. Sometimes you've got to take a chance and work a little harder to get the shot. As a photographer, I used to think that I knew how to work a scene. Then I met Luvern Mornin.                                                              

     Luvern Mornin is a freelance photographer and journalist currently living in Brantford, Ontario. She is a founding member of the Paris Photo Collective and also serves as co-chair of the group.   (full disclosure; I am the other co-chair.) She has photographed and written  extensively about the comedy scene in Brantford for BScene Magazine. She has had a successful  showing of her personal work at the Boho Gallery in Paris, Ontario and has displayed her photos at other venues in the Brantford area. She is also  known for her work as an advocate for the homeless in Brantford and has published a series of interviews with them on her Facebook page, Back Of The Room Photography.   https://www.facebook.com/Luvernn.A.Mornin

    Luvern got her start in photography literally on the job. Fascinated by the burgeoning comedy scene in Brantford, she borrowed a friend's Nikon D5100 to photograph the performers doing their acts in various comedy clubs. In 2016 she acquired her own Nikon D5100 as a birthday gift from her father. The performers liked her pictures and began using them for their own promotional purposes. They were different. Not the usual headshots that were used for promotions.  It wasn't long before she was picked up by BScene Magazine to write a column and photograph the comedy scene. She also did promotional photography for the magazine and its advertisers. 

    Luvern 's photographic brand, stemmed directly from her work shooting in the comedy clubs. Her style, when photographing the comedy performers, was to stay at the back of the room utilising a fairly long lens. It allowed her to photograph the comedians without being too close to the stage and interfering with their interaction with the audience. Photographically, it takes a lot of skill to shoot in the low light levels of a comedy club. You only have the stage lighting (if that) to illuminate your subjects. Using a flash would be too distracting.   When looking for a way to brand her work, she created a Facebook post asking for suggestions. A friend who knew her style of shooting suggested, ''Back Of The Room Photography'' and the brand was born.  

     Regarding her work as an advocate for the homeless, Luvern was well aware of the problem in Brantford. Most people, when encountering the homeless, just try to avoid eye contact and walk on by. At best they might stop long enough to shell out a buck or two to help them. Luvern decided to take steps to actually help  them. Marshalling her skills as a writer and photographer,  she met with individual homeless people one on one to interview them and get their stories. She wrote up these stories and published them on her Facebook page. (See link above.) The pictures she published along with the stories were not of the homeless people themselves, but rather of objects or scenes that helped illustrate their situation. Her aim was to provide them with a voice and not exploit them.                                                                

    She often volunteered her time at soup kitchens or drop in places. She used her car to help get people  to medical appointments and counseling sessions. She sometimes used her own resources to help them find temporary accommodations.    

     In talking with Luvern regarding her work with the homeless, she related a story. On a cold winter's day she had volunteered to work at a drop in centre. When she got there she found that a large pot of coffee had been brewed. She noticed that most of the homeless people were milling about but no one had coffee. Although the coffee was ready, no cups had been provided. The homeless people,  already in dire straits,  were in no hurry to experience the further indignity of having to ask for a cup. Luvern asked the paid staff member if she could provide some cups. She received a noncommittal answer.  Eventually Luvern located the supply cupboard and put out the cups herself. It's an insignificant story perhaps, but it is indicative of the huge disconnect that exists between the resources available, and the relatively simple steps needed to administer them. I mean a large pot of coffee is pretty much useless unless cups are provided to serve it! It applies to all aspects of the work in aid of the disadvantaged. 

     It is that disconnect. That "us and them" mentality that caused Luvern to take a hiatus from her advocacy work due to a degree of frustration and burnout. However,  there can be little doubt that her efforts made a difference. I mean just the stories themselves are a powerful testament. 

     Luvern is a very dynamic photographer. Going on a photo walk with her is always an experience. One minute your walking along, chatting amiably, and then, within seconds she is gone. Something has caught her eye. You look around and spot her crouched down, her signature Nikon D5100 up to her eye. She's working the scene or subject in front of her, finding the best angle, using her skills and camera to create an image that satisfies  her eye. She shoots with intent. She has mastered the photographer's dual mindset of single minded purpose , getting some good shots, coupled to an open minded approach to the photographic possibilities of all of her surroundings. When she is shooting, she is completely in the moment and, invariably, that moment is successfully captured in her camera.                                      

 

     It was bit of a no-brainer  for me to pick Luvern for this first "Photographic Friends" feature. (Thank God she agreed to it!) She exemplifies both aspects of the title so well. She is a very imaginative and capable photographer as well as a caring and steadfast friend. She is one of the most dynamic people I know and more than once has (figuratively) kicked my butt to get me out of my doldrums and back into creative action in the practice  of this  photographic craft we  love. 

....more later