What makes black and white photography so important to you?

To me, black and white photography is photography in its purest sense. The timeless and classic look always fascinates me. Also, in our daily life we have to deal with a lot of expressions and emotions. A monochrome photo, gives you the possibility to define your subject and story, without it being distracted by colors. Color photographs can be fantastic and beautiful. But with colors you always have an extra dimension to work with, as a photographer.

I have often wondered why a black and white photo attracts me as a viewer. In many cases I think it is the simplicity, calmness, the more defined composition and story, that does it. Other times it is the strong graphical effect, strongly defined composition, and light/shadow combination.

What inspires you to create photographs?

Life.

The last couple of years, street photography has been my main interest. Actually I didn’t know much about this genre before. I am generally a shy person, and always felt a little awkward when taking my camera to public places. But at some point I fell in love with street photography, after seeing some of the old masters’ work. I decided to do something about it. I am lucky to have a daytime job in Copenhagen.

I take my camera with me every day, and this has forced me to just take pictures in public places, even if I were far away from my comfort zone. And one day, I experienced the feeling of forgetting the surroundings, and just being focused on the photography scene in front of me. It was a fantastic feeling.

I always try to get there, but often I have to struggle to get to this “creative zone”, where nothing else besides the photography exists. Some days it still can be difficult for me. But I love capturing these small moments of life. The feeling when you have been lucky to press the shutter at the absolute right moment, combined with a good composition. This always pushes me to do more and evolve. You learn all your life. That is my biggest inspiration.

Why is black and white photography so important to our future in the art world?

It is timeless, but still tells a complete story about the moment it was taken. There is a little less distraction, a little more simplicity. As art, an image can stand alone, or it can be part of a series, and tell a good and strong story. History has proven that black and white will be a part of art in the future. In a time where everything is constantly moving fast, somehow black and white photography still has survived, and stands strong. I am sure it will do so in the future.