Life in Monochrome

Life in Monochrome

The camera sits heavy, its comforting weight resting upon a palm. Fingers brush around smooth black lens casing, aperture adjusted for the too bright lights and dark shadows they don’t quite illuminate. All around, the world is white noise. Wait for the shot. Wait. Wait. Click. Photography is the game of waiting; waiting for that one perfect moment in time when you capture a story all in one frame. A moment, a memory, in which is forever captured from time’s grasp. Monochrome photography, often in black-and-white, can seem boring. Black and white, only two unique shades in the entire spectrum and universe of color. But in a world where everything shifts so suddenly and burns so bright, the monotone of monochrome is a quiet breath; a simple step back from it all. It highlights the shades of all that we see. The high, middle, and low tones – the shadows of depth – are all made clearer without the din of color to drown them out. We see and live in a world of color. But color, or polychrome, can sidetrack us. In photography, it can take away the focus from your subject, divert from the rich textures and the play of light and dark that make up its story. In life, it can distract us from the

< >. Every person sees the world in unique ways. (NEEDS REVISION, based off of changes in thoughts while writing)>

New Thesis Idea: Change how you see the world, but you need both.

Neither monochrome nor polychrome are greater than the other. They are different, yet each b...

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...aits alone. I am not just monochrome, not all black-and-white, or even just one color shaded about. I am tinged sepia, and gold, and red, and every color imaginable by the love and emotions of those around me. Everyone needs love to add the color to our worlds. We need color. Although, we may see things more clearly, more calmly, in monochrome we need the full spectrum of color. Color captures the essence of people; people full of life and color and movement and all those little things that make them beautiful, concentrated into their purest forms. When it comes to the ones we love, the feelings and memories we share should not be broken down into their basic forms. They should be kept and held tight. Those small touches of polychrome give me courage or ambition when I otherwise would have none. They give me the freedom to let go and enjoy life when it matters most.