Gallery: seeing the world in black and white (again)
Black and white is abstract; colour is not. Looking at a black and white photograph, you are already looking at a strange world.
Joel Sternfeld, US photographer
A strange world indeed, but then there is much in the world that seems strange to us. Different cultures, different landscapes, different architecture, different animals … and that is why we travel.
To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.
My blog is full of travel photos, most in colour but some in black and white. A couple of years ago I posted a galley entitled ‘Seeing the world in black and white’ for a Sunday Stills challenge. It’s a fun exercise, experimenting with colour images in order to see the world a bit differently. So today, for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness theme of Travel, I’ve converted some more favourites into monochrome.
What many of these images have in common I realised, in addition to the theme of travel, is the isolating of a building or part of a building against the sky. That’s a technique that seems to lend itself to black and white conversion. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence that I picked them out of the archives today?
My feature photo was taken of course in Paris; it’s the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre
The Paulinum, a building of Leipzig University, Germany
Low tide in Faro, Portugal
A rainy day street in Lucca, Italy
Lion on the porch of the church of San Pietro Somaldi, Lucca, Italy
Cathedral roof, Cuenca, Ecuador
Detail of the Taj Mahal, Agra, India
Carving detail in the Jain temple of Ranakpur, Rajasthan
Inside Cape May Lighthouse, New Jersey
The Very Large Array, New Mexico
The gate to San Geronimo church, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
Capilla de Nostra Senora de Guadalupe in Albuquerque, New Mexico
The church in the tiny village of Toconao in the Atacama Desert, Chile
Dead Vlei, Namibia
Moai on Ahu Nau Nau, Anakena Beach, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
The Hand of God by Carl Milles, in the Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan
The Park Theatre in Kempten, Germany
The Chelsea Hotel, New York City
Fire escape, Soho, New York City
40 Comments
SoyBend
Nice choices to show in black and white, Sarah. I especially liked the lighthouse staircase. I also liked the sense of starkness in your Dead Vlei shot.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Siobhan, I’m so glad you enjoyed these 🙂
rkrontheroad
The boat on the beach at Faro seems to tell a story. My favorite here is the one in Namibia, so stark and contrasted.
Sarah Wilkie
That Namibia shot seems to be the general favourite, but I’m glad you liked the Faro one too – thank you Ruth 🙂
wetanddustyroads
It’s through your blog that I’ve learned to look at B&W photos with different eyes (and actually like it). The detail in the Taj Mahal is stunning.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh, that’s so nice to hear Corna 😊
equinoxio21
Shades of Leonard Cohen at the Chelsea Hotel….
Sarah Wilkie
Yes – it was cool seeing the place where so many greats have stayed 🙂
Alison
The more I see of black and white photos the more I like them. In black and white you look at the detail more closely. I like the hand of God, very interesting
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Alison 🙂 I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, we almost need to train our eye to appreciate black and white photos in a way we don’t need to with colour (although it’s good to do that too perhaps).
Marie
I love Dead Vlei but also the lighthouse…. fab from that angle in B/W
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Marie 😀 Both of those are quite old shots but seem to have had a new lease of life in this post, with the monochrome edits!
Sue
Great set of images, Sarah! Dead Vlei in Namibian is probably my favouriteļ
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue – Dead Vlei is the out and out winner this week!
Sue
Excellent!
grandmisadventures
beautiful pictures as always. I really love the one of the man walking down the street in Italy on a rainy day- what a lovely walk that must have been 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg 🙂 Lucca is a beautiful city, rain or shine!
Leanne Cole
You have so many interesting photos from so many interesting places. I love the header shot especially.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Leanne 😀 I tried to create a bit of drama in my edit of the header shot. The sky was a deep blue that day so I emphasised the contrast to get the building to pop out, and used a green filter in Silver Efex to keep some detail in the leaves.
Andrea R Huelsenbeck
These are wonderful photos, Sarah. I love all the ones mentioned in the comments above, plus the Taj Mahal.
Sarah Wilkie
Aw, thank you Andrea 😊 I’m fond of that Taj Mahal shot myself, both this version and my colour original, as the details of the craftsmanship really stand out.
Amy
Love this black&white series, Sarah, especially Luca and Namibia.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Amy – Dead Vlei in Namibia is definitely the general favourite this week, those dead trees are ideal for monochrome I reckon!
thehungrytravellers.blog
Every photo here makes you stop and study it for a few seconds – they each have something that draws the eye. Maybe b/w accentuates different things.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Phil, I think that’s exactly right – when I convert a photo to B&W I often find that part of the image stands out more than it previously did, or the balance shifts between different elements 🙂
Anne Sandler
Nice conversions Sarah! I think my favorited atr the staircase inside the lighthouse and the Dead Vlei,
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 😀 Dead Vlei is definitely leading the race to be favourite this time!
margaret21
Like Ritva, I particularly like the Namibian shot. And indeed all of them, except I do tend to see Lucca in my mind as tinted in warm Mediterranean shades.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Margaret 🙂 I agree about the Mediterranean shades in Lucca, but not when it’s pouring with rain as it was that morning!
margaret21
Fair point.
Annie Berger
The rainy day Lucca street shot was perfect in black and white – if it had been in color, it wouldn’t have been so dramatic in my opinion.
I’ll think of you when we see the Hand of God sculpture at the Open Air Museum in Hakone in about 6 weeks, Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Annie 🙂 I have a few street shots from Lucca on that rainy morning and almost all have been converted to black and white! Generally I feel that’s nearly always the best way to get decent photos on a dull day 😀 You’ll love the Hakone Open Air Museum I’m sure – this is just one of many sculptures that I liked.
Teresa
All gorgeous photos… my faves are the low tide, the stairs of the lighthouse and the Mexico bell!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Teresa 🙂 There are no shots from Mexico here however, so I think you mean the Albuquerque one?
Teresa
Oops sorry, that’s the one 👍
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
These are lovely Sarah, the low tide in Faro and Dead Veli, Namibia were my favorite, all such interesting locations.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ritva. I’ve actually just corrected a typo there, as it should read ‘Dead Vlei’, not ‘Veli’ 😀
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
Still like the photo 🙂
Monkey's Tale
Some of these look like they’re meant to be in black and white like Namibia and Lucca. Another great collection.. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie 🙂 Dead Vlei seems to be a general favourite so far! Those trees definitely lend themselves to B&W photography, although we do lose the colours of the dunes.