Exploring the Shades of Gray: Meaning, History, and Photography Insights
Alexandria, VA – Gray vs. Grey? If you’re wondering, gray is more frequent in American English, and grey more common in Canada, the UK, and elsewhere. Either way, the color mostly gets bad press.
A gray day is akin to feeling blue as opposed to being “in the pink.”
When I think of gray, I think of gray skies, Gray Ladies, and shades of gray.
Each fall and winter I promise myself that I will stay open to the blessings of the cold and gray skies. One day, maybe I will succeed.
I was a Gray Lady so long ago that all I remember is I volunteered one night a week at a hospital in D.C. I wheeled a cart to deliver things like mail, magazines, and snacks. The “Gray Ladies” started in 1918 at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in D.C. to provide services for war patients. Their name came from their signature uniform of a gray dress and veil. The program was disbanded in the 1960s and absorbed into a more unified volunteer services program within the American Red Cross. (per Wikipedia)
Then there is thinking in shades of gray. In Learning to Think in Shades of Gray (see Zebra story online to access the link), Marino Fitness asks: Are we “losing the art to critically think while keeping an open mind? Often, the loudest voice in the room demands the most attention and suffocates the quieter, more rational voice… Whatever happened to living in shades of gray? They made millions at the box office talking about 50 different shades of gray. Don’t you think it’s worth investigating the facts from BOTH to come up with your own ideas?”
Investigating the facts and coming up with our own ideas takes work. That may be why it’s so tempting to be told what to do or what to think.
What I most want to talk about is shades of gray in photography. According to Sophia Hawkes, (“Masters of Black & White,” Capture Magazine, May 2022), “A black and white photograph will strip away an element of life most of us take for granted and engage with all the time, colour. In doing so, our attention will focus on aspects we might easily have missed if colour was present.”
“Black and white has a way of simplifying and focusing our attention. The absence of colour leaves behind the essential elements of an image – light and dark, shapes and lines, expression and gesture,” says Bruce Coghill, a Melbourne-based multi-award photographer.
During the 1940s, Ansel Adams and Fred Archer put out their method of exposure called the Zone System that offered a way for photographers to be more precise with their exposures. This system focused on Zone V, which was also 18% gray, and this became the standard for a balanced exposure. Kodak began including a gray card in their film data books. See also: Using a Gray Card for Photography: What is It and Do I Need One? » Shoot It With Film (see Zebra story online to access the link).
I fell in love with black and white in my first photography class at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College. I worked in the Hall of States building on Capitol Hill and often used my lunch hours to wander through the nearby U.S. Botanical Gardens. My instructor at NOVA-CC, Ann Zelle, liked my work and offered me a one-artist exhibit for my final project – a collection of plant portraits. I was hooked.
When I founded Living Legends of Alexandria I chose to work with black and white film. Not only did I love the medium but also because to me black and white photos by their very nature connoted history, and my goal was to document Alexandria’s recent history-makers in words and photographs.
Performing artist and educator Kathleen Baker, recognized as a Living Legend of Alexandria in 2015, writes, “Grey invites us to add color. I recall the beautiful work done by Alexandria students in response to the grey-toned Living Legends of 2016 portraits by Steven Halperson. Possibilities? Endless!
“Grey also invites us to reflect on closeness to one another in this world. In an era when apparel, flags, hats, t-shirts, and other color-based expressions speak to yes, identity, and also, division. Grey offers a neutral ground in which we might encounter our shared concerns, fears, and solutions to living in a world where color can be an emblem.”
Here’s to celebrating shades of gray.
Mosaic Artist/Photographer Nina Tisara is the founder of Living Legends of Alexandria.
