The following are images from my growing interest in Black and White photography that was partly revived by discovering and scanning a collection of old negatives from long ago. In a sense I am going back to my roots - growing up I could mostly only afford to buy black and white film! Some of the scanned negatives were a little scratched and dusty (not an issue for those only familiar with digital photography). I did some cleanup using PhotoPlus X3 but left some, partly out of laziness, partly out of nostalgia.
Of late I have been converting color images to black and white. I have been trying to visualize the view through the viewfinder in black and white - trying to see only the shades and textures. Then I discovered that I can view in black and white through the viewfinder. I really should read the manual!
This is "Seascape". I took it when I was about sixteen from a ferry crossing from England to Belgium. I like the contrast between the two elements , air and water. The same duality seemed to reemerge in later digital work
This is "A beach on Sunday, in Pencil". It was taken on a Cape Cod beach during early spring in 2007. The original image was in color. I converted it to Black and White and then added light pencil effects using PhotoPlus X3.
"Land's End Inn, Lamp" This was taken in the Lands End Inn in Provincetown. Originally a color negative, I scanned to a digital file and converted it to Black and White.
This is an extracted image from the picture above. It has become a little more abstract.
This was a Black and White negative that I recovered from my newly "discovered" file of negatives. It is titled "Rachel on a Promontory in Spain"
An image titled "The Hinge at the End of the Universe" It seemed right somehow.... This is derived from a color digital shot. I have another version with enhanced, over sharpened colors.
I wandered around the Sturbridge Host Hotel while my wife was exhibiting at a show held there (June, 2009). I like the low lighting and sense of isolation. It works even better in black and white. There is a sort of 1940's film noir look. Humphrey Bogart or Robert Mitchum may be lurking around the corner!
I had noted elsewhere that I rarely photograph people. Looking at my recovered negatives however, I found quite a few people shots. This is Anne French, someone I knew while in high school. I actually arranged a real photshoot with her, albeit my lighting was restricted to one lamp!
And this is Margaret Fell-Smith, a friend from university, snapped in her apartment.
Someone, whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, photographed next to the half plate camera I still possess.
"The Camera Sees". A picture taken through the front of the same half plate camera with the lens plate removed.
This is Keith Ellison, a fellow apprentice at Hayward Tyler Ltd, pump makers to the gentry.
