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Fine Art Photography Magazine<br />

DECEMBER 2016 #27<br />

B&W <strong>The</strong><br />

BIG<br />

<strong>Issue</strong>


ALLAN KLIGER<br />

What black & white does


Copyrights To Allan Kliger© All Rights Reserved


Copyrights To Allan Kliger© All Rights Reserved


ALLAN KLIGER<br />

What black & white does<br />

I love color. Our world is in<br />

color. I love the sensuality<br />

of the explosion and<br />

depth of color. But, there’s<br />

something special about<br />

black & white that moves<br />

me, that speaks to me. And that’s why I<br />

shoot in black & white.<br />

It’s not any one thing; it’s more how<br />

it all seems to fit together. Whenever<br />

I shoot, I always take two images, one<br />

in Raw and the other, the one on the<br />

back of my digital display, in black &<br />

white. It helps me to see in black &<br />

white, without the distraction of color.<br />

It especially allows me to focus on the<br />

light, the quality and nature of the light,<br />

its direction and how it plays to the<br />

image I wish to take, the image that<br />

I feel without even knowing what it<br />

actually be at the time.<br />

Most who know me would say that<br />

I’m a people person. That probably<br />

explains why I love to shoot people,<br />

portraits. Everywhere. More often than<br />

not in some far away place where I<br />

don’t speak the language. I don’t need<br />

to speak the language. We all connect<br />

at some level, we know what the fight<br />

or flight means. It’s primeval. And so is<br />

knowing when it’s ok. When it’s safe.<br />

We see it someone’s eyes, in their<br />

gesture. I hope people see it in my eyes<br />

as I approach them. I prefer shooting<br />

outside, natural, environmental. I<br />

explore, wonder, that’s part of the<br />

adventure. Looking for the light, for<br />

something elusive, something perhaps<br />

around the corner, an open doorway,<br />

some motion that catches my eye,<br />

beauty, frailty, something real.


Copyrights To Allan Kliger© All Rights Reserved<br />

A moment, something that compels me to<br />

stop, to want to make time stop. Perhaps it’s<br />

something I can identify with, even if I don’t<br />

know it. A feeling.<br />

At first I’m tentative, approaching the subject<br />

like quarry, hunting them, wondering if<br />

they’ll spook or allow me to observe without<br />

objection. I don’t shoot with a long telephoto<br />

– I shoot up close and personal. I want that<br />

connection, need that connection. I’m the guy<br />

right up there in someone’s face. No boundary.<br />

Crossing the boundary. Testing the limits of<br />

comfort and permission. Respectful, tactful, but<br />

leaving no uncertainty. It’s personal and the<br />

subject knows it. I dance around, like a boxer<br />

or a Judoka in the judo ring. I’m observing the<br />

light, the face, the comfort and nature of the<br />

subject’s demeanor and pose, waiting for the<br />

moment when it all comes together. Specular<br />

light, Rembrandt light, light & shadow,<br />

depth and dimension. I need the shadow,<br />

the blackness, the hint of light. And then, in<br />

between the shots, I find it. <strong>The</strong> connection.<br />

When the subject finally feels<br />

relaxed, to connect, to allow me<br />

to immortalize their soul in the<br />

light that I’ve found. That’s what<br />

black & white does.


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Copyrights To Allan Kliger© All Rights Reserved<br />

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ALLAN KLIGER<br />

What black & white does<br />

Web: allan kliger photography<br />

Instagram: allankligerphotography<br />

FB: Allan Kliger Fine Art Photography<br />

Contact: photography@allankliger.com<br />

Tel: (416) - 669-0647 Toronto, Canada

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