The strong brown of the early morning coffee, that unexpected yellow in concrete jungle or the incandescent orange rays of setting sun, the human eye responds very strongly to colours. The advertisers and filmmakers no doubt have recognized the subtle power of colour to catch the human eye and influence our moods, but great photographers and filmmakers also recognize the other important aspect in the visual medium; the forms and shapes.
When you look at a black and white photograph, your eye is forced to examine the forms and shapes without the distraction of colour. There are photographers like Ansel Adams whose images are superbly balanced and he clearly elevates the photography to an art form.
In my college years one of my seniors used to bring a digital camera to our campus, but oddly enough he used to switch the camera to black n' white mode and take pictures repeatedly of an old banyan tree. In conversing with him, I found out that he was trying to capture "the balance of things, you know, the shapes of things." We thought he was a nut job and left him alone; I wonder where he is now. Later in my life after countless number of days with my humble camera, I think I understood what he was trying to say. Here's me applying some of his principles.
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| Dargah at Moula-Ali |
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| Arabian Sea and a silhouette of a friend. |
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| Tamilnadu-Kerala border. |
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| Disused warehouse, originally a colour photograph converted into black and white. |
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| On a Friday at friends' house. |
