Andok Tamas: Details, Lights and Tones
All images by . Used with permission.
WHAT MAKES BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?
There is no deliberate or deep consideration behind choosing black and white, It’s just a wonderful way to make images. I enjoy creating a photo with hundreds and thousands of details, each of them with different tones and lights, and it’s a pleasure to notice (and edit) tiny things, like shades and shadows and highlights, a face in the background, a little light in the corner. But working with colours can be great, too.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO CREATE PHOTOGRAPHS?
To experience a state of flow. During creation you’re floating through all those different moods and thoughts and ideas and memories and feelings, that are swirling in you. And sometimes suddenly, sometimes only after a long time you feel that you created something. It can be a snapshot from the subway or a conceptual image from your studio, it doesn’t matter. I find the whole process and its outcome pretty awesome.
WHY IS BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY SO IMPORTANT TO OUR FUTURE IN THE ART WORLD?
I’m not an expert on the subject, though there are some interesting psychological questions about it. I guess people (including myself) just like the “ageless” and “timeless” moods of black and white imaginary. Just think about all those softwares with different vintage effects and the neverending renaissance of film cameras and analog photography. I often get the feedback that it’s hard to tell where and when my images were shot. People just instinctively feel the timelessness, the mystery and the nostalgia, so they can immediately relate to the picture. It reminds them of something, maybe they recall something from their own life, or they realize a common human theme.
