Swash: Better in Black and White?

In which we revisit Black Point Beach.

I’ve been here thousands of times, there’s always something new.

Swash lines at Black Point Beach, October 2014.

Here at the meeting of land and sea, erasure and change are not occasional.

Erasure and change are the constants of the shore.

Every day is different.

When studying an image I’m trying to make, one thing I will sometimes do is turn off the color and look at the picture in black and white. Color can be a distraction, the same way that words on a sign are a distraction: they both can keep you from seeing the underpinnings of your composition.

Here’s another shot of the same view, but in black and white.

The color of beach sand is subtle, but it can still be distracting.

While processing the pictures for this post, I found myself turning off the color again and again.

All my life I’ve made pictures, one way and another. At least forty years ago, I made some black and white work. An older local artist, whose specialty was linoleum block printing, contacted me to say “thank you” for not neglecting what he called “Black and White Art.”.

At the time I didn’t really understand what he meant.

I understand a little better now.

So the rest of this post’s pictures shall stay black and white.