The Wicked Allure of Monochrome

Most of my favorite songs were shot in black and white. 
[Currently listening to I Got You feat Lola Marsh]

Chances are, so are yours. There is something so whimsically attractive about a frame devoid of color. But why is it so? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Aren't we forever updating our mobile phones with higher resolutions and better cameras? Me thinks, all monochrome pictures and videos almost always invoke nostalgia. I don't think you could shoot a futuristic vision in only 2 contrasting, bleak colors. Why, though, are we bewitched by the past? A past, that three dimensional, non-time travelers, like us cannot change. A past, that had few moments of joy in a sea of trails. Why is it that we only remember the good and not the tearful nights? Why can we recall laughter and not the gloomy hours that we dragged our feet through? Why can we remember the sunshine and not the hailstorm?

Don't expect me to answer that. I'm no researcher! Although, I can share my deeply flawed theories.
[Song change to Corcovado by Astrud Gilbert]

My second guess is that doing away with colors, especially in a photograph, also removes distractions and brings the focus on the object of interest which usually is at the center. I love taking black and white photos of people. It helps me to show the features and expressions of a person while not dwelling too much on the clothes or ambiance. Case in point:


The photo on the left, while is fairly decent, it does draw our attention away from the person, to the bright light on the extreme left and the glare on the face and arms. On the other hand, the eyes immediately drift to the person in the middle in the picture on the right. Everything else that exists in the frame supplements to the aura of the person's expressions.

Speaking of expressions, let me know if your minds drifts to anything else other than the actress in the song that is as much a visual treat as it is auditory.

I might write about my conspiracy theories on Sepia or color blocking with a single hue in a gray-scale if I feel upto it. For now, let me leave you with a hauntingly beautiful one hit wonder. Enjoy!
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