Have I ever talked about why I love black and white photography?

I know you hear us photographers talk about how they love black and white photography all the time, but it always feels so surface level and, honestly, scripted. It sounds like more of a sales pitch than anything. I too am guilty of usually only scratching the surface. It’s more comfortable that way sometimes and sometimes we haven’t actually figured out what that thing is yet that draws us to something, we just know we love it and we’re searching for the why.

It’s that place where the dark meets the light for me.

Sometimes is gradual, sometimes it’s a hard line, sometimes it’s barely there at all. It’s beauty in dark places. There’s always light and beauty to be found in dark places, even when that doesn’t seem like it could even be possible.

It’s only over the past year (mostly) that I’ve started to look for the light in more than just photos. I’ve found it in every situation that felt dark and impossible, be the situations my own or someone else’s to bare. I’ve seen the way people rally around those facing their darkest days. I’ve seen overwhelming joy and love surround pain of the worst kind. I’ve seen just glimmers of hope that need more time to illuminate, but it’s there at least still a little bit.

It’s the simplicity of stripping away the color and seeing only the light. Sometimes color distracts us from seeing what actually matters the most.