THE HEADSPACE PLACE OF BLACK AND WHITE
Sometimes people are referred to as being very 'black and white'. But what does this mean? Perhaps the connotation is that an individual has a strong characteristic for seeing things one way, and not the other. Alternatively, the more accurate rendering may be that this personality type could be known to be rigid and inflexible, perhaps even unreasonable. It may be that it appears that someone could come across like this, but yet, in their reality, they have already worked out their reasoning in their own mind very thoroughly, to the point where there is then very little room left for further, shall we say, wriggle room or deviation.
And yet, in popular culture, black and white often portrays balance, harmony, as a result of two opposing forces and therefore striking some sort of equilibrium and a new whole. Symbolically, the black and white elements occur in equal measure and are both the same and yet exactly the opposite at the same time. A summed state of equivalence. The compelling and repulsive forces between both sides are then neutralized by their equality in power, with neither one or the other exerting a dominance or yielding at a single point in time. Perpetually locked in a battle of iron will versus iron will, or (should that be, phlegmatic acquiescence?) the dynamic of difference between the two worlds is none-the-less raging at the borders like a storm-tossed sea thrashing at the staunch rocky coastline. Both have their place in their respective deconstructive and constructive behaviors making for sublime beauty and/or threatening menace.
If you love black and white photography, that of itself does not indicate a propensity to be bipolar. Why? Because it is black and white not black or white. Or you could say that within the greater resolution of higher definition, there is more information on hand to see a bigger picture made up of carefully collated contrasts. Then, it is the contrasts which define the whole rather than just equal measures of net difference. The former definition is a more realistic interpretation of life itself and is a wide spanning umbrella when it comes to photography, and not because, “life is full of different greys/grays and not simply just black or white”, but because naturally, we are drawn to light and in particular, relative variation in light or in other words, contrast. In that sense we are almost moth like. If you are in a dark room and someone turns on the light, you naturally want to see what has been illuminated and turn towards what has most recently been defined.
We have an inbuilt bias to be attracted to highlights coupled with the fact that the human brain is a mind-boggling capable interpolator and playful calculator and this is why I love black and white photography. The absoluteness of the moment is emphasized by the bold contrasts which are naturally attractive in their own right. It’s as if your brain snaps to attention to puzzle out the differences and work out any pattern which could be revealed. But herein lies the real beauty. The lack of colour allows you to see the image your own way. It activates a personalized ‘perspective’ or emotional interpretation because you are not being dictated the whole story all at once in a colourful overload. It is intimate by way of invitation to make your own story from what you see – firing the imagination and the creative process in the observer. Maybe it is as simple as less is more or that if you remove sugar and salt you can taste the real flavours.
The taking away of some information allows you the scope for your own overlay and personal emotional bond to what you see. It’s not so well defined that you have to swallow a sugar lump whole. Instead you can sip and savour and let the distillate percolate. This can give rise to a head space that you may not even be able to define and yet it can be more real to you than the chair you are sitting on.
This is the transportive effect of a beautifully played instrumental piano piece – full of tones rather than visualized black and white keys. The destination is your own. Colour is like the lyric which starts to prescribe the experience more definitively and less open to personal opinion. I think black and white may be for the head space and colour for the cooling or warming of the soul. By choosing your own headspace, you do your own story telling in perhaps a more powerful way. I liken it to reading a novel for yourself rather than someone relating it to you.
Abstract is to interpretation as colour is to categorize. A lack of hue and saturation may be less literal yet more bold by way of its relative contrasts and personal take on any given image. Black and white allows the artist to create from a broader emotional palette because the observer’s mind is triggered into building up the reality. As soon as something is prescribed in colour, it can be more deterministic than intended by the artist. Blues have to be – blues. Greens have to be a shade of green because it has been revealed. Bluey greens have to be bluey greens and so on. Black and white creates intrigue and possibilities, what ifs and potential – the very sparks of imagination to your own story and chapters in your own book of experience and therein your own sacred private headspace.
In the same way that instrumental music can be personalized by your interpretation, so too can a black and white image. Counterintuitively a melancholy tune can make the listener sense happiness and familiarity, even elation. To another, reassurance. To yet another, real sadness. A high key image can likewise be a touchstone to your own inner dialogue of a drama.
Although the image maker must perceive and respect colour to portray the intended contrasts shown in a black and white image, (perhaps with even more sensitivity than a colour image itself), there is great scope for a story to be related with the greatest poignancy. The wrinkles across a furrowed brow or the expression of a soldier on the front line. The lighting tells the passage of time with less distraction and focuses the senses rather than necessarily heightening them. Depending on the subject matter, black and white can almost punch you into a reaction rather than cradle you away into a personal construct.
It’s for these reasons of pure dynamism that I love black and white images. The push and pull of the pixels relate the intensity or calm of the image within, offering an honesty and vital essence, escapism and reality.