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Behind The Shot

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Where photographers who shoot in black and white come to learn, share and grow

  • Learning to See: Part 2

    Learning to See: Part 2

    Alex went out for the second time with a new habit and an obsession. Light. The walls and doorways suddenly had something happening on them that hadn’t been visible the week before. Then a real moment showed up, light and subject together, and Alex froze.

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  • The Photographs You Weren’t Trying to Make

    The Photographs You Weren’t Trying to Make

    You plan the shoot. You scout the location. You go out with the camera ready and the intention set. And you come back with nothing worth keeping. Then on the way to pick up milk, camera slung over your shoulder almost as an afterthought, you make one of the best images you’ve ever taken. Here’s…

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  • Weekly News Roundup

    Weekly News Roundup

    A busy week on the gear front. Viltrox, Brightin Star, and 7Artisans all have something new. Ricoh is raising prices on every GR model in Japan starting next month. Lightroom Classic got a meaningful update. And the Black & White International Photo Awards exhibition opens in Manhattan next week, worth knowing about if you’re nearby.

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  • Behind The shot With Colin Cunningham

    Behind The shot With Colin Cunningham

    Two unrelated photo challenges and a joke about Lord Cardigan brought John in front of the camera for one of the only portraits ever made of him. Four frames at a dining table in natural light. Weeks later he was gone, and the photograph became something neither of them could have known it would be.

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  • Do You Prefer Odd or Even Numbers?

    Do You Prefer Odd or Even Numbers?

    Have you ever looked at a photo of three people and felt drawn in, then looked at a photo of two and felt like something was missing, without being able to say why? Most photographers have a quiet preference for odd or even numbers in their compositions and have never noticed it. Here’s what that…

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  • Technical Skill Will Only Take You So Far

    Technical Skill Will Only Take You So Far

    Most photographers spend their early years chasing technical correctness. Correct exposure. Sharp focus. Clean backgrounds. These are real skills and they matter. But they’re not what makes a photograph memorable. They are the floor not the ceiling.

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  • Behind The shot With Glen Fisher

    Behind The shot With Glen Fisher

    Glen Fisher went to Assynt in the far north-west of Scotland for a photography workshop with one goal. To come away with three photographs just a level or two higher than anything he had made before. On a grey morning with no sun and clouds hanging low over the hills he stood in the cold…

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  • Learning to See: Part 1

    Learning to See: Part 1

    We have gotten some messages from people who are new to black and white photography and do not know where to start. Over the coming weeks we are going to follow Alex through the early stages of learning to see in monochrome. This is where it begins.

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  • Weekly News Roundup

    Weekly News Roundup

    A solid week. Viltrox announces a 28mm pancake for L-mount, the Insta360 Luna Ultra officially launches with Leica co-engineering, 7Artisans announces a fast 135mm for Sony E and L-mount, and the World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 is still running in several cities worth knowing about.

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  • A Photo Story: Ignitions

    A Photo Story: Ignitions

    Andrés Gonzalez started asking questions about Portugal’s wildfires in 2023 and has not stopped since. He rides hundreds of kilometers on a motorcycle into the interior of the country while fires are still burning, sometimes arriving before emergency crews. Ignitions is not a project about flames. It is a project about the exhausting human reality…

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