All images by Yucel Basoglu. Used under a creative commons license.
Photographer Yucel Basoglu is obsessed with creating sweeping, breathtaking, scenic, black and white photography using long exposure, and he breaks the better known stereotypes in his “Men Alone” series by including a human subject in his frame.
Yucel Basoglu believes that black and white photography is the best technique to demonstrate the purity in human and also nature. He further illustrates with an example: a color photograph of a smile is only showing you the person smiling, but on a black and white photograph you can see the reality behind that smile. This is similar in nature as well, the power and beauty of nature can be better explored in black and white.
In his “Men Alone” series, Yucel has blended the human element surrounded by beautiful nature. The “Alone” emotion was emphasized by placing his human subject as a very small part of the frame which is filled with a beautiful landscape background, yet at the same time the strong presence of the human subject is well maintained with careful composition. The slow shutter speed used resulted in motion of the clouds and movement of the water being captured, evoking surreal and dream-like feelings when viewing the images, further adding up to the sense of loneliness. High contrast, black and white tones worked effectively in amplifying the emotion portrayed in the images.
You may view more of Yucel Basoglu’s photographs in his website here.
