Island at the Head of the Harbour



Black and White
Someone asked me once what my attraction to black and white photography is. It's a great question with a really simple answer.
My process in taking pictures includes thinking about what the subject is, and then doing everything possible to centre the viewer's attention on the subject. Sometimes, as in this photograph, colour would distract from the image and take attention away from the main subject - the bronze and green of the seaweed and other plants in this picture distract from the main subject, the trees out on the island. As a result I simply stripped the colour out, and processed the image as if it was taken with black and white film.
In this case, black and white also works because it conveys a sense of history, or an old-fashioned feel, which is precisely what I want to put across when shooting images of landscapes that see so much change from year to year. I may go back here, assuming I can still access this particular beach, and re-shoot this just to document the changes along our coast.
In the end, how I produce my images comes down to what I feel will best convey the feeling I got when I saw the subject and made the image. I hope that the viewer gets the same sense I do when I look at the result. Some folks obviously appreciate it - this image is up for the month of May at Teichert Gallery in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia as part of a 50 artist group show of art. I am very pleased that this image was selected for inclusion, and thrilled to be part of such a great show.