x A BIT OF A GREY AREA The timeless black-and- * white combination manifests in nature, creative endeavours and ways that help us make sense of our world. But zebra crossings, penguins, American cop cars and 101 Dalmatians aside, there's slightly confusing theory that underpins the mix.
For starters, black and white are known as achromatic colours. By that we mean that they are without hue. Simple? Not so fast: some people think neither is a colour at all black, they argue, is the absence of colour. Then there’s the camp who reckons both are only shades. It’s endlessly debatable stuff.
We commonly refer to black and white together as “monochromatic”. Monochrome means “one colour”, and all black-and-white images and items qualify here.
