When Black and White Just Won’t Do

Street photographers love to bang on about black and white. Myself included. Strip away colour, remove distraction, focus on form, tone, and moment. It’s a mantra that’s been repeated for decades. And nine times out of ten, it holds up.

But then you find yourself on a London street staring at a scene like this, and suddenly all that talk about monochrome purity feels a bit daft.

Look at it: the deep red façade, the brown double doors, the woman in a matching red shirt standing dead centre like the city dressed her for the role. Add in the hanging baskets spilling over with flowers that just happen to echo the tones, and you’ve got a frame that demands to be shown in colour. Turning this black and white would have been like ordering a curry and then asking the chef to hold the spice.

Technically, it works because of contrast and composition. The symmetry of the doors gives the image balance. The shadow play across the wall adds texture. And then there’s her expression, locked into her phone- a very modern gesture sitting inside a very old pub doorway. It’s a clash of eras neatly bound in one frame.

Humour sneaks in here too. To me, it looks like she’s waiting for a message that might never come, while the man in the pub window behind her has already given up and settled into his pint. The city’s little contradictions impatience outside, resignation inside.

And here’s the bigger point: colour isn’t a gimmick, it’s a choice. A tool, just like black and white. The skill is knowing when to use which. In this case, the answer was obvious. The colour wasn’t a distraction I thought, it was the subject.

So yes, I still love black and white. I’ll still argue it’s the backbone of street photography. But every once in a while, London throws a scene at you that makes you put the purist hat back in the bag. Sometimes the city paints the picture for you, and your job is just not to screw it up.