-->
Low contrast, especially in black and white, has been
popular for a while now, and I’ve messed around with it a bit, thinking it looks
cool and interesting. But I was
never happy with the results, probably because I didn’t have a true feel for what
it was all about.
But then I saw this photo:
And for whatever reason, low contrast, for me, finally
clicked. I see it as casting a
pensive, calm mood—sort of like cool, blue light can. Not too many people are having a wild party in light
like that. Nor are they
reading. No, light like that is
good for thinking profound, maybe even aching thoughts.
Maybe that’s obvious to most people; I don’t know. All I do know is, I didn’t grasp it at first.
Which is why just messing around with low contrast didn’t really
work. Like any element of a photo, the level of contrast needs to
be chosen for a reason. “Because I
just saw a photo that had it and I think it looks good” is not enough of a
reason. It's a start, but not anywhere near an end. Better to dig deeper,
with thoughts of things like creating a party mood, or a manly mood, or a
feminine mood, or a pensive mood.
Sometimes, maybe you have to be in the mood to be in the
mood.
(photo: Dafne Cejas by
Josefina Bietti in “Black and White” for Fashion Gone Rogue)
