Switching to monochrome has changed how I see photography from the conceptual viewpoint, but also from the process viewpoint.
What Monochrome Taught Me
Is Photography a Social Contract?
To me, photography, isn’t just a medium for artistic expression or documentation. It creates an implicit social contract between the photographer, the subject, and the eventual viewer. That contract involves layers of trust, interpretation, and cultural negotiation that exist whenever an image is captured and shared. The social contract of photography shapes not just the image itself but the way it is interpreted across different social and cultural contexts.
More Fishing Huts
Further on the last photo, here is one of the photos I took during the day in bright sunlight.
How Not Being Relevant Is Now An Advantage
I never followed trends. Still don’t. The branded trainers, the tribal colours, the group signalling that consumed my schoolmates meant nothing to me (still doesn’t, I don’t wear brands). While they sorted themselves into neat categories of belonging, I couldn’t be bothered allocating brain resources to such nonsense. I cared that my parents bought me shoes, not which logo was on them. I wanted one decent friend to talk with, not membership in whatever faction was fashionable that term.
Fishing Huts
This is a return to my roots: a landscape with sunset colours. This is the sort of photos I was taking 20 ago.
Become a Good Photographer, Step Four: Force the Habit
It’s easy to fall into the comfortable position of not taking photos, even if you want to. Taking photographs requires switching into the right frame of mind, if you’re into landscapes or street photography it requires you to go out, sometimes travelling, and then there’s processing whether you take digital or film. It’s just easier to watch TV or doom scroll.
Montrose bay
I took this photo in February 2006 in Montrose bay. It was a nice but freezing cold day that in Scotland results in very nice blue skies and intense warm colours due to the low sun.
Pretty Images Are Dead. Long Live Documentary Photography
Generative AI has had a massive impact on photography in the last couple of years. The moment Midjourney could conjure a flawless sunset over the Maldives without anyone leaving their bedroom, the game changed irrevocably. Why trudge through tourist hordes at Santorini when an algorithm can deliver that golden hour shot with perfect composition, no cruise ships cluttering the frame, and lighting that would make Ansel Adams weep? AI doesn’t deal with weather delays, equipment failures, or that inevitable moment when someone’s selfie stick ruins your carefully planned shot.
This isn’t a tragedy. It’s evolution.
Simple Landscape
Sometimes, photos don’t need to be complicated. You’re on your way somewhere, and you’re struck by a sight that appeals to you. You might not be able to explain why. It just looks pleasant.
Photography Doesn’t Need a PhD!
I argued a few weeks ago how serious image-making is similar in many ways to scientific research: photographers, like scientists, must master specialised terminology, analyse minute technical details, and engage in lengthy theoretical discussions to truly understand their craft.
I touched on the opposite argument when mentioning how images are consumed on IG and other social media platforms. But there is a larger argument to be had here: photography shouldn’t require a PhD to be appreciated.
As I mentioned when I started this newsletter, I use writing to argue with myself. And in the case of this discussion, I wasn’t entirely finished. But having the whole argument in a single post would have made it way too long and too complicated. This is essentially part 2 of the argument.
