SUPREME MONOCHROME

Darker, stronger, more solid, simpler, and deeper black monochromes:

1. Go digital monochrome

Sweat. Downtown LA, 2016. Leica M8.2 RAW, with ERIC KIM PRESET

What’s the best for black and white?

First thought:

RICOH GR III in high contrast black and white JPEG mode is superior to even Kodak Tri-X 400 film pushed to 1600 with yellow filter.

Downtown LA, 2015 (shot on a Ricoh GR with the fixed-focal 28mm lens). Shot in RAW and processed with ERIC KIM PRESET

Thus it seems if your goal is to advance your monochrome photography, digital black and white photography is a better approach than compared to black and white film photography.

Amsterdam girl with doll— reminds me of pieta. Amsterdam, 2015 #ricohgrii

William Klein and man at FOAM exhibition in Amsterdam, 2015.

Dark Skies over Tokyo // RICOH GR II x FLASH

To reach a deeper level of contrast, start shooting with flash. If you don’t use a flash, you cannot go deeper.

Film Leica MP, f/8, flash at 1/8th power, 1.2 meters

Mumbai woman cop, whisper. Leica M9, flash, 35mm, 1.2 meters.

With flash, you gain a deeper foothold and control over reality.