An Taigh Aig Freumh Na Beinne Photograph

I have always had a passion for monochrome. I fell in love with old black and white movies as a child in the 1970s. Like many others, I identify black and white with a bygone era – an age we associate with glamour and romance as much as the tragedy of war. I feel the use of black and white triggers a sensory association, a cultural ‘sense memory’. If I'm in the studio I draw heavily on this rich monochrome heritage. Consciously choosing black and white, and using a certain light or a particular costume detail, I believe you can engage the viewer to suspend their sense of disbelief and claim a wisp of the elegance of that era for yourself. That choice is in many ways an escape from the modern world and its sensibilities, which daily threaten to overwhelm so many of us.