Wonderful monochrome

Sometimes a mistake leads to new ideas or the revival of old ones. Photographs taken when cross country skiing on a bright sunny day, with snow being whipped off the mountains by the föhn wind, being unintentionally in black and white were a surprise.

Not only did they bring back memories of trays of smelly chemicals in a tiny darkroom, they were also a reminder of the dramatic effect that can be achieved by extinguishing the colour from a scene.

In this winter, when the snow has been in short supply and the snow shovels stand forlornly outside the front door, the early mornings are often cloaked in a thick white blanket hanging over Embach. The scene is very largely a monochrome one, the trees standing starkly black against the white of the lying snow. Only the brightly painted houses in the village stand out.

Prompted by the surprise of accidentally taking black and white photos, it was a short step to purposely taking more monochrome shots on one of these grey mornings.

Setting out with the object of taking photographs sharpens the eye. Attractive monochrome images are not the same as those that catch the eye when colour plays a role:  big subjects like the skeleton of a tree with limbs broken by heavy snow, hanging, pointing accusingly at the whiteness below and the magnificent rounded crown of a tree disguised in summer by its leafy garb, or detail, like a drip of water hanging perilously from the tip of a branch or a spiky thistle poking out of the snow.

Suddenly, there’s a break in the cloud and through it the top of the 3000m Hochkönig can be seen, its snowy cloak glistening in the sun against the blue of the sky. A moment for a quick shot in colour. Then it is gone again.

It might not be one of those days with deep blue sky and fresh, shining snow, but look around and there is always a reminder of Louis Armstrong singing “It’s a wonderful world…ooooh yeah!”