Black+White Photography - UK (2019-12)

67

B+W

Vecchio for a whole afternoon
(B +W 161), I realise that perhaps
I wasn’t trying to take pictures,
but practising the simple
exercise of standing in one
single, exact same spot – with

one camera, one semi-wideangle

standard lens and using just

one aperture setting. After a

while I started to see beyond the

obvious beauty of the ancient

bridge and its eye-catching

Veronese backdrop. I really

began to notice the tide of

tourists coming and going, and

it was then I knew what I really

wanted to say about the place.

By this point, the bridge had

merely become the context and

not the subject of the pictures.

Just recently I spent the best

part of a day on a small beach,

limiting myself to making

photographs in one area. ›

Left The inspiration
At first, I was drawn to the obvious, to the pointed, squiggly, eye-catching
rock formation to the left. It was lit by direct sunlight and the shadows were
totally blacked out. The effect was too harsh, too blunt and the composition
lacked depth and intrigue. Then I included the bottom right rock. But, it wasn’t
until a cloud passed, creating a moment of semi-diffused sunlight, that the
image and the idea for this One Day Light Project manifested itself.

Right The idea

While I was on the beach, I wanted to give myself a clear, defining sense of

photographic purpose. I decided to approach all the photographs very simply,

as an exercise in working with natural light, looking at how it affects shape,

pattern, tone, texture, line... and, here, form. In this instance, I thought of

the light as a sculptural tool. It helped me see this image and clarify

what I wanted to say with it.