John M. Wissler Photography and Art Media

A Black and White Architectural Journey…

Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art.-Frank Loyd Wright

Yes, my first blog and first post, so I wanted to get something brief right out of the gate, pun intended.

I started out in photography when film was prevalent. I now shoot both film and digital photography through a multitude of different cameras. Interesting enough, I love color and use it in my photography. I’m never afraid to use color, especially when painting. With that said, I have a significant enjoyment and fond love of black and white photography. I believe this stems from the use of it, loading it in the camera years ago. The capturing of a picture from the shutter click, through darkroom development and ending up with an organic handheld photograph, has stuck with me. Silver gelatin prints have a specific look and feel and there is some exceptional paper out there to compliment these types of prints.

Architecture has also always intrigued me. My black and white journey of windows, doors and gates had started out as just that, being out and about shooting architecture while carrying a camera around. This was never the main intent normally, but a secondary thought or backup plan of going out with a camera. Architectural elements tell a story and show us the history of building. It wasn’t long after seeing complete buildings in the photographs taken, that I started to see these elements in a closer perspective. I soon wanted to capture even more elements and the older the building, the better for me. These items are not too shy or move around a lot, when out on the street taking pictures as some things are, so it’s manageable to focus and spend some quality time to get great shots. This leaves a lot of time for experimentation on lighting, equipment, framing the picture and settings.

Putting this all together, even in our digital age of screens and phones, these invaluable architectural and functional building elements have some great appeal. Their sharp details, lines, curves and construction characteristics also lend themselves to a striking look and appearance when seen in black and white. Once printed and hanging, I have noticed intrigue in these specific photographs at events, which is very satisfying . So, when out with any type of camera device, switch that dial, load a roll or post process to black and white, when photographing any closeup architectural element that has some character. There is a lot of new and old architecture to be seen and photographed. As stated, buildings are interesting and abundant in everyday life. This journey will keep going on for me and I’m glad to have shared my thoughts about these windows, doors and gates I have seen.