BLACK & WHITE 365
In late 2023 I was trying to figure out what I would like to achieve with my photography during the next calendar year. With January 1st fast approaching the opportunity to indulge a project which would take up an entire 12 months - not to mention one which would super satisfyingly start at the beginning of the year and end at the, well at the end - was just too tempting and like most things in my life; completely on a whim, I committed to shooting exclusively black and white throughout 2024.
Whilst abstaining from the world of colour film photography would be a challenge in itself, I really wanted to explore the implications of what looking at the world in black and white for a whole year might be like when I realised… That’s exactly how I look at and receive the world and that actually, shooting exclusively black and white for 365 days might be a way to remedy that.
Black and white thinking is a symptom of my neurodiversity and in short means I that I struggle with the grey areas that define most situations. Instead I think in mostly unhelpful absolutes like complete success or total failure, the MOST joyful of joys or full blown sorrow, head over heels in love or the hatred and anger of a thousand erupting volcanoes. But reality is far more complex than that. You know, like the rich tones of Rollei RPX, life is a multitude of shades waiting to be explored and understood.
My thought process with all of this was; shooting exclusively black and white would act as a very literal mental cue for me to stop thinking so black and white. And while I wouldn’t be so bold as to say the practice has availed me of my condition, it has absolutely helped.
During the first few months I shot EVERYTHING in black and white. Not just rolls of film. I even changed the stories on my personal Instagram to properly lean into the project. I know, how very all or nothing of me.
Slowly and with only a little bit of worry that I was somehow cheating at my own self-imposed monochrome mission, I allowed myself to leave the personal story posts in their original colour. That in turn allowed me to make other exceptions to my year long commitment like; shooting colour for paid photography work and indulging a roll of Harman Phoenix which was released over the summer for no other reason than I was curious. It turned out not being so black and white about shooting black and white for a year was a huge help in itself.
How was the literal act of shooting mostly monochrome for a whole year? Yeah I mean, it’s fine, isn’t it? Black and white covers a multitude of sins compared to colour. It can also make a fairly average frame feel timeless or dramatic or classic. I wouldn’t say I find shooting black white easy - but certainly easier.
That said, I now have more of an appreciation than ever for the colourful world we live in. At first I felt actual sadness when I’d see a beautiful sunset or someone wearing a flamboyant, fun ‘fit or a bold block of colour. Sad because I couldn’t take a photo of it. Like it wasn’t still there happening right in front of me. There was a literal moment where I said to myself, ‘Just because you can’t take a photo of it, doesn’t mean you can’t still appreciate it’. My brain tingled with warmth and progress.
Unknowingly I took this project on during what would turn out to be an incredibly challenging year for me. My industry is going through a huge recession which has ultimately resulted in me having to sell my home. There have been some really tough days this past year and I am grateful for my daily practice that allowed me the perspective to see the nuance of my situation.
