Crafts,  Monochrome Madness,  Photographic techniques,  Themed galleries

Gallery: seeing ceramics in black and white

October 15, 2025 / 33 Comments

The attractions of ceramics lie partly in its contradictions. It is both difficult and easy, with an element beyond our control. It is both extremely fragile and durable. Like ‘Sumi’ ink painting, it does not lend itself to erasures and indecision.

Isamu Noguchi, American artist and furniture designer

People have been using clay and similar materials to shape objects both ornamental and practical for millennia. Today every culture has its ceramics traditions: forms and styles, decorative techniques, purposes.

Ceramics, according to Wikipedia, are:

any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, non-metallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick.

When I first saw Brian’s theme for this week’s Monochrome Madness I thought, I don’t photograph ceramics. And then I thought: Or maybe occasionally I do? So I started to dig around in the archives and sure enough, I found more than a few. I started to realise that when I travel such objects often speak to me of the local culture and therefore are worth capturing.

These often sculptural forms do lend themselves to monochrome processing. I used my go-to Nik Silver Efex and, because many of these objects are either old or in a traditional style, added a hint of sepia.

My feature photo was taken in the Cafeto & Baristas coffeeshop in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Coffeeshop display (with some ceramics), Getsemani, Cartagena, Colombia

A celadon water dropper (used in mixing ink) in the Koryo History Museum, Kaesong, North Korea

At a jar factory in Vigan, Philippines

Potter in Goa, India

Pottery stall at the market in Ngueniene, Senegal

A closer look at pottery for sale in Ngueniene, Senegal

Food storage jars, Jabrin Castle, Oman

At a desert camp in the Wahiba Sands, Oman

Terracotta urn, Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria

Planter in Koprivshtitsa, Bulgaria

Lucky cat for sale outside the Sensō-ji temple in Asakusa, Tokyo

Tagines in the Marrakesh souk

In the Jardins Majorelle, Marrakesh

Niche to display crockery, Taqah Castle, Oman

In the State Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, Tashkent

Ceramic wall tile frieze in the Real Alcázar, Seville

Tea set in Hanoi, Vietnam

33 Comments

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