Black and white photographs have a mysterious charm. A change in your eyes occurs; we see the world that we always see with colors as the world of black and white and achromatic colors. Our eyes that put colors before lines and faces start to differentiate the world with lines and faces.
Horizontal and vertical lines look more dramatic. The white and black colors become more distinguishable.
Black winter, 2010
However, in the black and white world, thousands of different brightness values exist. It is not the world that can only be recognized simply as black or white. In the world of achromatic colors, ‘different colors’ exist. Even though we try hard to distinguish the world as black and white, we soon realize that it is not as simple as it sounds.
Journey, 2008
However, one of the biggest charms you can find from black and white photographs is actually ‘light’. If we consider photographs as ‘art of light’, the miraculous part of taking black and white photographs is to grasp the light of the moment.
Behind the scene, 2011
Light, 2011
A beam of light illuminates the darkness. It is beautiful. The world begins with the light and is completed with the light. It is the same for all other arts. Without light, we cannot see the world. ‘Seeing’ is the physical phenomenon of the retina caused by light but it also means,‘to recognize the world.’ When ‘seeing’ the world with various tones of black and white, we can discover another unique view of the world.
One day , 2007
The universe can be discovered within raindrops on a window.
Memory, 2007
A foggy dawn can be seen beyond a window of a dark room. My friend’s hand that I always see looks pretty yet again. Texture of the jeans that she always wears feels different.
Friendship, 2008
It is a brilliant experience to see the world by changing our eyes. Scenes that we would usually carelessly miss are silently paused in neat tones. At this moment, a new eye opens up. Thanks to black and white photographs, ‘photographs’ began to be recognized as a genre of art. Rather than a tool of recording, images started to be acknowledged as a pictorial tool. Due to this, the boundary of conservative arts has broadened. It would be probably because of a unique charm that black and white photographs have. The world that we see after eliminating colors looks clearer and more realistic. The reality is to see as it is, excluding one’s mind. The world that you can see plainly not being blinded by colors is also beautiful as it is.
Life, 2010
We usually describe the state without life as the achromatic color of black and white. However, the world that is seen through black and white photographs still shows the beauty of as is. Actually, it would not be a matter of colors but a matter of the eyes that are used to see the world. I also started to realize the beauty of the world as I took black and white photographs. I started to have a different set of eyes to see aspects of the world that I could not normally catch. It is a charming job to express the beauty of the world that has been discovered with different eyes, using a tool called photographs. The realization that I have attained from so many pieces of work is that the world – no matter if it is black and white or filled with colors – is beautiful because the world exists forever as it is. This property of eternity can be recorded as an instant moment with photographs. This might be why it could be recognized as a genre of arts.
Station, 2013
Arts are not always grand. Everyone can do art if one has the eyes to discover greatness from things that exist ordinarily around us and a warm heart to see the world. The world seen in black and white has given me ‘different eyes’ that presents the miracle of everyday life to me. That is to realize that the fact that we are living and breathing at the moment is a miracle itself. That’s why art will be alive forever with the world.
