A black and white photograph will strip away an element of life most of us take for granted and engage with all the time, colour. In doing so, our attention will focus on aspects we might easily have missed if colour was present. “Black and white has a way of simplifying and focusing our attention. The absence of colour leaves behind the essential elements of an image – light and dark, shapes and lines, expression and gesture,” says Brence Coghill. Coghill is a Melbourne-based multi-award-winning photographer who since 2018 has used the wet plate and tintype technique from the 1850s to create black and white images. Coghill has an affinity for black and white photography and feels that critical elements of a portrait can be enhanced by the absence of colour. “When I’m shooting portraiture, a black and white image removes distractions and brings greater focus onto the gesture and expression of my subject. I’m less distracted by the background or the colour of their jacket, and instead more captivated by their expression and drawn into the moment captured in the image,” he says.
Tim Booth also believes one of the powers inherent in black and white images is that they remove distraction. Based in the UK, Booth gained international recognition after publishing his seminal project and award-winning book, “Black and white imagery encourages the viewer to appreciate structure, tone, and composition above all else.
