November 1, 2013

Monochrome Moments ©Sean Hayes (2013)

I don’t recall what age I was when I first saw a photography by Ansel Adams – ten or eleven perhaps – but I do remember being transfixed by its beauty. Those silvery tones; translucent greys, those skies that turned day into night. That was also the day I fell in love with black and white photography. What is it about B&W photography that has such a compelling hold on our senses that colour sometimes lacks? I believe it is because we have a more visceral reaction to a monochrome image. Our emotional reaction to black and white comes much more to the fore. We suppress the urge to logically ‘interpret’ and seek meaning that is usually the case with its colour equivalent. Colour photography is predominantly representational – black and white is universally ethereal. Its beauty is in its ambiguity and surface aesthetics. No justification required. It lives or dies on its ability to make you feel something – or nothing. Posted below are a selection of my black and white photographs. Or, to be more accurate – monochrome – as I have played around with different hues in post-production. Hope you like them – and should you like one of them enough to want a pristine print on your wall, please write to me at shonski50@me.com and we’ll chat about print sizes, prices and shipping arrangements. Thank you for your visit.