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Life in black and white by Shawna Black
Welcome to a new feature of FTTW: Saturday photography. Every other Saturday afternoon Shawna will bring you "Film and Developer: The Art of Black and White Photography" One Saturday a month we will have someone write about digital photography. On the other Saturday, we will have a themed reader photography submission day. We'll announce the theme on Wednesday or Thursday and you'll send us your pics and we'll have some fun complimenting each other. More details to come on that next week. If you would like to do a one shot column on digital photography (we'd like to have a different author each week), please shoot us an email at submissions@fasterthantheworld.com. And now, Shawna's first Film and Developer column. Black and white. Two of my favorite descriptions of the absence of color and light are black and white. This is especially true in relation to photography. The highlights, the shadows, the shades of gray, all blended together in a way that absolutely fascinates my mind and directs my emotion. For me, seeing a good black and white photograph causes the same feeling that music does in others; stirs an emotion so deep its indescribable. You know, similar to the chills that you get when you hear a person singing who has an awesome voice? Yeah that. Same feeling. During one of my college photography courses, the class watched a documentary on a photographer named Eva Rubinstein. Rubinstein’s photography gave me chills. She had an incredible way of using light. She used it, seemed to command it, in her photography. A good black and white photograph won’t just look cool to your eye, but will provoke an emotion. During an interview conducted by Frank Horvat, Rubinstein described the difference between a shot she took when she was highly emotional and the same shot she tried to duplicate focusing on the “mechanics”. Quote: “Years ago, after a workshop, I got very powerfully involved with somebody who left at the end of the week, while I stayed on. I took one photograph in the room where we had been, just moments after he left. I was emotionally shaken, I had no tripod there, and made the picture at a quarter of a second, hand-held. A couple of days later I saw on the contacts that, not surprisingly, the image was "soft". So, in a much calmer state of mind, I went back to the same room with my tripod. Everything was the same, the light, the things in the room. The picture I made that day is perfectly sharp - and totally sterile. I have shown both versions to people without saying any of this, and they have invariably preferred the "soft" one. Surely because the sharp one is emotionally empty, there was nothing going on in me except trying to "get it right". (source)
(click for a bigger image) Shawna writes and shows off her photography at My Opinions are Free
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Comments
awesome. Digital is fun and all, but nothing really compares to shooting a roll and then the surprises you get when you pick it up or develop it. One of these days, i'll have a darkroom again. That's a fantastic shot, too.
Posted by: pril | September 16, 2006 12:17 PM
Thanks, pril!
I figure I have about 8 months of material (maybe more) before I'll run out and need to buy an enlarger to set up a darkroom in the garage...
Posted by: shawna | September 16, 2006 12:31 PM
I love b/w photography (I have my own set here, but I shoot digital).
Your story makes me want to pick up the SLR again. I have a nice Minolta, but the daughter uses it for photography class. I may have to share it with her.
Beautiful photo.
Posted by: michele | September 16, 2006 1:12 PM
I would love to contribute to this sometimes, as I have been shooting like a madman for the last 2 months and building my portfolio. Was a great addition to FTTW!
Posted by: producedby | September 16, 2006 2:43 PM
Very nice photo shawna. I always loved B&W photography, esp. when I did my own developing and printing before I had to sell my equipment. It was always cool to watch the image come to life in the tray, and know you had control over how it eventually evolved.
Posted by: UnkFrank | September 16, 2006 3:19 PM
Brilliant Column. I truly believe that the best photographs that have ever been taken were all black and white taken using just standard 50mm lens. No flash, no fancy equipment. Just pure vision and emotion. I have a few photos i wouldn;t mind showing off here.
Posted by: Tim | September 16, 2006 7:15 PM
Tim- I totally agree with you. This shot of my kids was a 50mm lens, natural light coming in the window and most of all, totally spontaneous.
Thanks everyone for the compliments. I can't wait to do more posts!
Posted by: shawna | September 16, 2006 7:19 PM
Nice work, Shawna.....
Posted by: thefinn | September 16, 2006 11:16 PM
yay shawna! hi hi hi!
all my favorite peeps are at FTTW!!!
(uh... did i just say "peeps?")
Posted by: kali | September 17, 2006 10:31 AM
Kali, don't say peeps. That'll ruin your street cred faster than listening to Tori Amos.
Posted by: shawna | September 17, 2006 2:16 PM
Dang I miss the darkroom now. B&W photography was all my college taught, and boy do I miss it now. My dad let me borrow his 30yr old Pentax with all the lenses and attachements for the classes. I was in heaven, and very nearly refused to give it back to him lol.
Posted by: RC | September 21, 2006 7:09 PM
Black & White photography, ... it is much like my first french kiss!!
Posted by: Michael Brown | October 19, 2006 11:19 PM
Hey lady!
I just wanted you to know that I do visit your site, and that you are extremely talented. I hope your life is treating you well. I think of the old Vista days often. You are part of so many of those fond memories--I wonder if I'll ever see you in person again. Seeing Franklin and meeting his family was great.
Posted by: Michele from Vista! | October 29, 2006 7:28 PM