COLOR MY WORLD IN VIBRANT HUES BUT LEAVE MY MEMORIES IN BLACK AND WHITE
Zhouzhuang is an ancient town, located southeast of Suzhou and an hour's drive away from Shanghai, which was the first leg of Papa's recent trip to China. According to recorded history, the revered Mr. Zhou Di gave up his residence to build a Buddhist temple and donated 13 hectares of his private land in the Northern Song Dynasty (1086). Hence, the local people named the village after Mr. Zhou as Zhouzhuang since the time.
In the past 900 years and more, Zhouzhuang has gradually become a water country town faming over the areas south of the Yangtse. All the old buildings are well preserved as they were. 60% of residents in the town are still living in the houses left intact, and because of this, Zhouzhuang has become a wonderful tourist destination, attracting more visitors both home and abroad. It has also been one of the first group to be ratified as AAAA tourist attraction by the National China Tourism Administration.
That's just a bit of history for you but it's not the main purpose of this entry.
I like black and white pictures. To me, they're more nostalgic and because I obviously thrive on sentimental mush, ergo, I like nostalgia. In fact, one of my dreams is to come up with an album... not an online one but a real one with pages you can turn... with pictures all shot in black and white. Some time ago Papa bought a DVD of 'The Man Who Wasn't There,' another collaboration of brothers Ethan and Joel Cohen. It's totally shot in black and white and I could say that I started toeing the idea of a black and white album because of this movie.
Have you ever wondered why pictures in black and white would always have a connotation of 'the past?' Even the movie I mentioned earlier was set sometime between the 40's and 50's but is actually a film made in 2001. Perhaps we've been spoonfed to think that way because of television, or the print media and such. And whyever not? There wasn't colored television or colored films in those days. Didn't color first come out on printed stuff like magazines, and even the newspapers didn't have colored photos until a decade ago I think (if I'm wrong, enlighten me)?
My theory though, is this. When we see colored photos, our senses stop right there. We see color... first and foremost, that's what we react to. Sometimes, it doesn't go beyond that. It catches our sense of sight and right away we think, 'beautiful,' period. Black and white photos however do not have the texture, or the sparkle, or the vibrance of colored photos. But it will still beckon us to react... that's a given... for the simple reason that it still is a stimulus. That's human nature (and a bit of psychology for you).
So what do we react to in a black and white photo?... to the subject and its form. So we look at the photograph more closely, to see what it's all about, and probably even feel the story it relates... because there's nothing else. It drives us to dig up past experiences, and the feelings that those experiences cradle... it allows us that freedom. By not rendering our vision shut with an explosion of color, we are able to see the picture as it relates to us, in the most personal way a stimulus can. In this sense of perfection, I see nothing that color could ever do to make it better.
I also think black and white pictures choose their subjects more precautiously. Taking a shot of a colorful bird, for example, would be senseless... as one of a meadow blanketed with flowers would be a deprivation of an opportunity to properly chronicle a gift of nature... as one of a sunset would be an injustice. I think it would also take some skill to take a black and white picture that is noteworthy... a wrong angle might just make a brilliant shot shabby. Sadly too, there is not a lot of photo print shops left that develop pictures in black and white, and those that do, sometimes do it so commercially that they leave the pictures too contrived to be authentic. Rather than considering them reasons to choose the easy way out, however, I see these limitations as factors that make black and white photographs more precious.
I have a standing invitation to visit Shanghai which I've constantly declined because I don't really like to make people feel predisposed to amuse me. Or let's just say I'm a timid little mouse.
But one day I will take up the offer. Yes... and I will see Zhouzhuang in color... so I can remember it in black and white.
Zhouzhuang is an ancient town, located southeast of Suzhou and an hour's drive away from Shanghai, which was the first leg of Papa's recent trip to China. According to recorded history, the revered Mr. Zhou Di gave up his residence to build a Buddhist temple and donated 13 hectares of his private land in the Northern Song Dynasty (1086). Hence, the local people named the village after Mr. Zhou as Zhouzhuang since the time.
In the past 900 years and more, Zhouzhuang has gradually become a water country town faming over the areas south of the Yangtse. All the old buildings are well preserved as they were. 60% of residents in the town are still living in the houses left intact, and because of this, Zhouzhuang has become a wonderful tourist destination, attracting more visitors both home and abroad. It has also been one of the first group to be ratified as AAAA tourist attraction by the National China Tourism Administration.
That's just a bit of history for you but it's not the main purpose of this entry.
I like black and white pictures. To me, they're more nostalgic and because I obviously thrive on sentimental mush, ergo, I like nostalgia. In fact, one of my dreams is to come up with an album... not an online one but a real one with pages you can turn... with pictures all shot in black and white. Some time ago Papa bought a DVD of 'The Man Who Wasn't There,' another collaboration of brothers Ethan and Joel Cohen. It's totally shot in black and white and I could say that I started toeing the idea of a black and white album because of this movie.
Have you ever wondered why pictures in black and white would always have a connotation of 'the past?' Even the movie I mentioned earlier was set sometime between the 40's and 50's but is actually a film made in 2001. Perhaps we've been spoonfed to think that way because of television, or the print media and such. And whyever not? There wasn't colored television or colored films in those days. Didn't color first come out on printed stuff like magazines, and even the newspapers didn't have colored photos until a decade ago I think (if I'm wrong, enlighten me)?
My theory though, is this. When we see colored photos, our senses stop right there. We see color... first and foremost, that's what we react to. Sometimes, it doesn't go beyond that. It catches our sense of sight and right away we think, 'beautiful,' period. Black and white photos however do not have the texture, or the sparkle, or the vibrance of colored photos. But it will still beckon us to react... that's a given... for the simple reason that it still is a stimulus. That's human nature (and a bit of psychology for you).
So what do we react to in a black and white photo?... to the subject and its form. So we look at the photograph more closely, to see what it's all about, and probably even feel the story it relates... because there's nothing else. It drives us to dig up past experiences, and the feelings that those experiences cradle... it allows us that freedom. By not rendering our vision shut with an explosion of color, we are able to see the picture as it relates to us, in the most personal way a stimulus can. In this sense of perfection, I see nothing that color could ever do to make it better.
I also think black and white pictures choose their subjects more precautiously. Taking a shot of a colorful bird, for example, would be senseless... as one of a meadow blanketed with flowers would be a deprivation of an opportunity to properly chronicle a gift of nature... as one of a sunset would be an injustice. I think it would also take some skill to take a black and white picture that is noteworthy... a wrong angle might just make a brilliant shot shabby. Sadly too, there is not a lot of photo print shops left that develop pictures in black and white, and those that do, sometimes do it so commercially that they leave the pictures too contrived to be authentic. Rather than considering them reasons to choose the easy way out, however, I see these limitations as factors that make black and white photographs more precious.
I have a standing invitation to visit Shanghai which I've constantly declined because I don't really like to make people feel predisposed to amuse me. Or let's just say I'm a timid little mouse.
But one day I will take up the offer. Yes... and I will see Zhouzhuang in color... so I can remember it in black and white.
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