If you look into why monochromatic photographs are powerful and appealing (maybe not to everyone but to me they are) discussion in literature speaks to the ability of images devoid of color to bring out abstract elements within an image by simplifying the subject. Shapes and lines, light and shadows come together to artfully make an interesting or compelling image. When I teach photography courses or lecture on photography I often use the word geometry to describe the layout of the elements within the scene. When I use that word it is not the mathematics of geometry I am referencing, it is the other definition of the word which according to the Oxford Dictionary means “the shape and relative arrangements of something”. The geometry of this scene, that laid out in front of me and my camera at the beach, screamed monochrome so that the interesting arrangement of the lines formed by light and shadows would be seen in their simple, beautiful form. The three dimensional nature of the rolling dune jumps out because of the shadows in the late day sun. Do you feel like you are there as you look at it?
