Tali De'Mar

"I like the architecture of lingerie." ~Colleen Atwood

Ajaye

In a time where digital photography makes color ubiquitous, black & white photography seems like a curious anachronism. Yet black & white stays with us and remains relatively popular. Color film went mainstream in the 1930s with the introduction of Kodachrome & Technicolor, but black & white has stubbornly persisted not only in newspapers but also as an expressive outlet for many photographers who choose to shoot photojournalism, weddings, portraits and more by converting color digital files to black and white. But is black and white a gimmick? Given that humans see in color, is converting a photo to black and white an act of self-importance? A way to make an image appear to be more significant than it otherwise might be in color? To engage in a debate of whether black & white or color is better is probably a waste of time— both have their merits, and preference is ultimately subjective. Obviously, I wear my preference on my sleeve with my body of work here. I'm definitely not going to write a self-righteous manifesto on the superiority of monochrome, though. All I will say more on the matter is that it seems very appropriate for the work that I'm doing here.

Timaree & SaraWithoutAnH

"It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera... they are made with the eye, heart, and head." ~Henri Cartier-Bresson

Li

This image is not new— I shot it about a dozen years ago, although I just tuned it up a tiny bit. This image was important to me personally, as it was a definitive turning point where I knew what I wanted to achieve in my aesthetic going forward. It ticked off all of the boxes... showing real skin texture with razor-sharp focus, yet depicting movement in the softer bokeh areas; detail in the lighter areas, but mystery in the darker ones; gripping, twisting and body tension as opposed to static posing (later adding facial tension and mood to that); realistic sexuality as opposed to romanticized; realistic messy hair as opposed to perfectly coiffed (later adding bruised, scratched or scarred skin as well); compositions that look like they want to bust out of the frame. I thought that this was one of the strongest images that I had shot so far. This is one of a handful of past images that I tend to think of when I'm shooting, as a guide to what I'm currently trying to achieve.