EDITORS’ PICK
Out of Love for Light
BLACK & WHITE
BLACK & WHITE EDITORS’ PICK
Following Andrea Modica’s selection of winning images for our recent Black & White competition, this compilation of 20 images represents some of the other talented photographers whose work struck us and left a mark. Each a stunning image worthy of exposure and attention…
When selecting for editor’s picks we’re always searching for those striking photographs that make for an unforgettable single image, whether from a broader series or not. We enjoy the accompanying text some photographers submit with their images, and while not always necessary it can be relevant when understanding the work in full context.
These are intended to be a conversation starter… so feel free to join the discussion on our social networks.
BANNER IMAGE: KERTU SAARITS
What an outstanding composition and stylish use of the black and white aesthetic! The dialog between the two characters is whimsical and engaging, and the photographer’s personal style shines through. Finding a rim light to parallel the eclipse and using the space so creatively were inspired artistic decisions, not an easy task when taking a candid shot. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Edge of the Light. A camel’s fur catches the light from the sun that’s almost fully covered by the eclipse. A moment suspended between day and night – something quiet, mysterious, and otherwordly.
ALESSIA BANTERLA
The black and white aesthetic is an outstanding tool for highlighting contrasts and revealing what’s beneath the surface. But it takes a sensitive photographer to notice the layers and find the best way to convey the narrative. This composition, divided into light and darkness, captures the innocence of childhood but also uncovers the hidden trauma. The shadow is real and distressing, proving the aesthetic’s potential in conveying strong emotions. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – This is from a photographic project through which I seek to combine aesthetics, symbolism, and contemporary social themes. The work presents itself as a fragile and luminous apparition: a young girl wrapped in an aura of wealth, protection, and apparent privilege. This luxury evokes elegance, but at the same time creates a sense of distance, almost like a glass case separating her from the real world.
At the centre of this light, however, the girl’s gesture breaks the illusion: she covers her face. It is not an act of shyness, but the symbol of a contained pain, of a suffering that finds no space to be expressed. Her hidden face becomes universal and anonymous, representing all those children who experience deep and invisible distress. The case, which initially seems to protect her, gradually transforms into a symbolic prison: luxury cannot save or comfort her, but instead amplifies the contrast between what appears on the outside and what is happening within.
Through this image, I wanted to draw attention to psychological suffering in childhood and to all those forms of pain that are often ignored, repressed, or hidden behind an appearance of well-being. The girl does not show her face, but precisely because of this, she forces us to look, to question our collective responsibility towards childhood and its future.
ANNE DE GEER
No color, no clarity, just light and shadow that paint the ultimate love scene between mother and child. The image is an effusion of feelings, an atmosphere in which the viewer gets lost in warm emotions. The narrative is implied, as nothing is obvious or demanding in this picture. The fact that photography can be both a strict documentary and a lyrical poem is testimony to the range of this art. – LIFE FRAMER
BILL HOLDERFIELD
Each visual element of this composition takes the viewer one step further into the narrative. It’s a well-curated frame denoting intention and engagement with the subject. Contrast, shooting angle, proportions, and details collaborate to deliver a powerful message and strong emotions, and the black and white aesthetic adds more depth and drama. All very good choices. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Empire.
CHRIS YAN
The photographer uses highlights and shadows masterfully to create an artful decor and imbue the photo with mystery. The shot is atmospheric and makes the viewer curious to know more about each of its elements. At the same time, the shot is aesthetically pleasing and pulsating like a melody one hears in the background, wordless but striking a chord in the listener’s heart. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Beijing, China.
IRIS DAHAN
Again and again, black and white photography takes us to the essence and reveals the spine of our surroundings. The viewer is lost in awe of a line they’ve never noticed, a mesmerizing reflection, or a joyful texture. The composition is surprising, as one expects a natural landscape and receives a magical winter tale. It takes a great deal of technical skill and a strong artistic voice to be able to challenge the viewer’s perspective. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Equinox.
MAX STURGEON
This image hooks the viewer from the first sight. It’s abstract and surreal, but at the same time, familiar. Most viewers relate to the grim, bleak constructions in the background, the gray sky, and the disempowering perspective. What the viewer doesn’t expect is the dazzle of hope so simply and yet efficiently conveyed by the white speckles. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER
MOHAMMAD OLADIVATAN
Two main subjects face each other, sharing so many features and being different in many others. It’s the circle of life, artfully depicted in black and white. The photograph is candid and doesn’t stretch reality in any way. It serves the documentary purpose of photography, placing the focus on something we may have passed by a million times without noticing. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – The One Who Remains.
KATHERINE OZANICH
We’ve known snow for all our lives, and yet it still amazes us through its immaculate white, smooth texture, and ability to redecorate the landscape. In black and white, snow looks dramatic, cold, and surreal. This deep, multilayered scene takes the viewer from one element to another, providing a calm and serene atmosphere. One can almost hear the silence and taste the frosty air. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Royal Arches. Yosemite after a Spring snow storm.
OLGA ALEKSEEVA
The photographer relies on fine-art portraiture in monochrome tones to put the soul above the face. It’s a simple gesture, an invitation to transparency and honesty. The frame is divided; the contrast is low; everything stands still. The composition is nonconformist and intriguing, raising more questions than it provides answers. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Membrane. A hand touches a translucent surface. Someone stands close behind it, but the face is almost impossible to make out.
MIGUEL FRÍAS
Due to its creative perspective and lack of color, the photograph manages to reduce distances and bring two separate worlds closer. Solitude becomes easier to bear; the need for belonging is satisfied; shared experience is elevated. In their own way, the worlds on both sides of the wall exist independently whilst acknowledging each other. A sense of harmony shines through, one that wouldn’t have been possible in a colored space. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Watching the Street. My grandmother sits at the edge of the terrace looking towards the street below. Between the plants, the passing car and a stranger’s shadow, the image holds the small distance between private life and the world continuing outside.
KINGA OLECHNOWICZ
There is a stillness and a silence that only a black and white photograph can hold. This composition is straightforward and vibrant, and it empowers the subject to take the stage and tell the story. A bond is created between the viewer and the subject, a rhythmic back-and-forth of energy. The use of lighting and the daring perspective are to be commended. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Still Strength. Strength and calm, standing as one. What the body holds, the light and shadow repeat.
DOMINIC MORRALEE
The framing is excellent. The space is well used to build a stage on which the focal point stands, to create context, and to add depth. The shot is so fluid that any change can be expected while the viewer looks at it. One can feel the tension, the anticipation, the urge to press the shutter release button at the right time before the massive cloud draws the curtain over the scene. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Above the Clouds – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2026. From a hillside on top of Rocinha Favela, overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Christ the Redeemer appeared briefly through a break in the clouds. For much of the morning the monument had been completely obscured, before the weather shifted and revealed this fleeting view. I photographed it from a distance on an iPhone. The scale reduces one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks to a solitary figure within the landscape – present for a moment before disappearing again.
KONSTANTĪNS MIHAILOVS
In a delicate equilibrium, both the subject and the composition confront the viewer, challenging expectations. It seems a bizarre reality has taken over the world, and the black and white aesthetic plays a major role here. It enhances the contrast, emphasizes the movement, and creates a dynamic that keeps the viewer engaged. It also strips the composition of any localization in space and time, which only sustains its whimsicality. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Zero-Sum Game. Though life is rarely a zero-sum game, it’s rarely in isolation either.
SOFIA VITALI
Black and white photography truly is painting with light. This photograph reminds us of chiaroscuro techniques, where the artist is intentional with every brushstroke. The photographer exhibits not just outstanding lighting design skills but also a unique sensibility that allows them to see the depth and capture it in such a way that it becomes visible to the viewer, too. A whole world is packed in a few patches of light. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Traces of Presence. An eye, a breath, a hand: fragments caught by light while the rest dissolves into darkness. Perhaps existence does not need to be fully seen to be felt; sometimes, the smallest traces are enough to reveal an entire presence.
JENNTILLE DEWEY
An experiment, a game of hide and seek, a theater performance- this image has a mind of its own and can take whatever path it wants. It’s surprising and weird, catchy and fun, technically perfect but somehow a mistake. The mask’s eye is following you around, while the limbs seem to belong to multiple people. Impressive creativity, attention to detail, and artistic personality. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – From the series Animal Crackers, which began by observing my daughters as they played with animal masks. Through disguise, gesture, and performance, they move between themselves and imagined characters. The masks create a space where identity becomes temporary and unpredictable, allowing curiosity and imagination to take over.
Play became part of my photographic process as well. After digitally removing elements from the original photographs, I experimented with ways to return the images to film. Unsatisfied with the appearance of digital negatives, I photographed the altered images directly from my computer screen onto black-and-white film, then produced the final silver gelatin prints in the darkroom. Moving between digital and analog became an act of play itself, allowing experimentation and unexpected outcomes to shape the final images.
As a series, Animal Crackers explores play as both subject and process. My daughters play through imagination and transformation, while I play with the possibilities and limitations of the photographic medium. Play is not always comfortable or predictable; unexpected variables can interrupt what we think will happen and push us toward something we did not plan. By allowing those moments of uncertainty to remain, the photographs exist somewhere between reality and invention, structure and chance, and pixel and grain.
SEB. SZCZEPANOWSKI
A playful game of light and shadow, pieces that come together absurdly yet believably, providing food for thought. The picture is uneasy and entertaining, like a magic show that doesn’t reveal its tricks. It’s intriguing and hooks the viewer, taking them from one element to another in a quest for meaning and connection. If you look closely, life is just like this shot. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – One Body in Two Places from the series Between Touch and Shadow, bringing together moments in which people reveal themselves through gesture, proximity and the pressure of their surroundings. A child holds on; bodies yield to fatigue; a conversation is carried by hands; figures dissolve into shadow, glass and water. Made across public and private spaces, the images move between direct human contact and partial visibility. Black and white is not used to remove the world, but to concentrate it–allowing touch, posture, light and distance to carry the meaning. Across the selection, people appear both connected and separate: held by another person, enclosed by architecture, or briefly transformed into reflections and silhouettes.
ANTONIS ZOURIDAKIS
This candid shot highlights the duplicity of the black and white aesthetic. It can create an abstract, geometric space with harsh lines and rigid structures, but it can also soften human features and deepen emotions. Blend the two, and you get an impactful image with a strong narrative line, powerful character, and revealing background. With its complex framing and intense contrast, the image has all the attributes of a great photo. – LIFE FRAMER
Photographer statement – Beyond the Street. A young girl looks through a metal gate onto a quiet street in a working-class neighborhood of Morocco. Her direct gaze creates a powerful contrast between the intimacy of her presence and the harsh geometry of the surrounding environment.
JENNY RICE
What fascinates the viewer in this environmental portrait is its tridimensionality, its depth in space and time. Even in this visually complicated landscape, the subject stands out and becomes the main focal point. Textures interlace smoothly, contrast is gradual, and lines navigate naturally towards the main subject. Somehow, the photographer managed to include an invisible temporal line, which proves a deep engagement with the subject. – LIFE FRAMER
YASSER ALAA MOBARAK
Light falls beautifully on both subjects, strengthening their relationship and creating a cohesive frame. It’s clear that their connection goes beyond survival and that the photographer took the time to understand and tell the story from the subject’s point of view. The composition is complex, with each element having a clear role, whether it is a striking subject, negative space, or the subject’s position. Well done! – LIFE FRAMER
