It’s ironic that, in a world of digitized intensity, simple monochromatic black on white continues to hold such massive appeal. Actually, black and white has seldom diminished, aside from the 1970′s, when colour became ubiquitous in television, photographic print and fashion. Then, mono became briefly synonymous with ‘moth-eaten’. But not anymore.
I recently had the privilege to shoot Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest tower. It’s a spectacularly majestic structure on which colour is a constantly changing characteristic. Yet, for me, the most successful images are those we shot in black and white. Somehow, the image is transformed into something altogether more genuine, contemplative, deliberate. And therein lies a rationale for the appeal of mono images – they force the viewer to see the image with fewer distractions. Maybe we’re able to process the visual information better when the image is unornamented, less complex. Perhaps like choosing colours for our cars (silver, white, grey and black are, according to DuPont, the most popular choices), we are all looking for a little less visual saturation in our lives.
