In a bookstore at age 13, I found a small book by the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. I was inthralled by the crisp, contrasty black and white images photographed on the streets of Paris and other cities in 1930. My mother walked by and asked me if I liked the book and wanted it. “Oh yes!” I said and this started a lifelong love of imagery without hue or chroma. When you see images or movies in black and white you see them in a different way; a stripped down version of lines, light, contrast, and tonality devoid of color distractions.
When I see all the high-definition, ultra colorful images and movies now I am drawn to take that small, influential monochromatic book from my shelve and move through it’s pages, exploring again the stark images of yesteryear. I will always be grateful for that simple yet motivational spark my mother unknowingly gave me the day she offered to buy that book for me.