Speaking in Clarity

^A storm in formation: the B&W version gives a more intimidating atmosphere to my taste

In the colour film days, black and white photography was less popular among the common folks. Back in my dad's younger years, all he could use were B&W films. There are hundreds of his B&W works about me in the 1X1 format. But when I was old enough to learn photography, people simply forgot and almost forsook B&W. Colour films were the norm of those days.

Then, the digital era seems to have rekindled the B&W passion, kudos to the (almost) costless digital copies and post processing programmes. But what do we know about B&W photography?

B&W is special in its own right. In photography, it is a different representation of the reality in relation to colour photography. Its black-white-grey tone is sort of surreal as compared with the reality in colour. B&W photography is therefore an abstract depiction of the world, which is also characterised by strongly objective moods.

Interestingly, without the interference of colours, the image appeals to the viewers with a more forceful narrative impact. If photography is a language, and it is, B&W speaks it with clarity.
^ Two versions: I like the B&W texture

In the following few posts, I hope to steal a peek with you into some great minds about their understanding of B&W photography.

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A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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