Seeing in Black & White

There are some scenes that I cannot imagine in color. The only way in which the moment appeals to me is if I can see it in black and white.

While I have seen many photographers struggle within to decide if a scene should be captured in color or monochrome, while many photographers these days, thanks to digital photography, always shoot color and then make multiple versions of the scene – color, black and white, sepia et all.

I personally think that is quite a crowd pleasing way of creating art that should speak for you. There are scenes that strike a chord in me only if I can visualize it in black and white. In this photograph for example, these two pre-teens were trying to make a few bucks for their dinner by fishing out coins that people drop in the river.

How else could I explain the bleakness of the situation, the stark reality of life and the struggle of existence but in black and white, as if nothing else exists, nothing else matters!