Lens-Artists Challenge #390: Colour in Black and White

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A Flamingo. It’s strange converting this because it really is all about the colour with these wonderful birds. That said I like it in monochrome.

Egidio hosts this weeks challenge and, if I have this right, he would like us to post black and white images that contain a subject, that we know so well, we can replace the missing colour. His original challenge post is here.

I process very little in B&W. So, I’ve gone through my archives looking for colour images that, once converted, contain a subject that hopefully everyone can instantly put the colour back in with their minds eye.

Our Union Jack flag. Made up from the English, Scottish and Northern Ireland national flags. It does make for one instantly recognisable flag. Did you know that there is a right way up to hang the Union Jack? When flown correctly, the fat white bar in the top corner of the flag, closest to the flagpole, should be along the top edge of the flag, not the flagpole edge. The flag isn’t symmetrical and it gets flown upside down quite often, which is considered disrespectful.

One thing this excercise does bring home is how important colour is to company branding. I constantly see adverts on TV and before anything is mentioned, I sometimes know the brand. These things get right into your subconscious. I tried to find an image as an example, that would be widely recognised around the world. I came up with this next image. I bet most people would know the usual text lettering colours.

Here’s a few more examples for the challenge….

A sunflower close up
Another instantly recognisable flag.
The text on the cab door and backdrop give big clues as to what colour this taxi should be. I’d bet most people would know.
I’ll finish with this image for a bit of fun. It’s the hair colour I’m thinking most people would know. This book is excellent btw.

Thank you to Egidio for hosting this weeks challenge. I hope changing things to fit the brief is ok. I had nothing otherwise.

All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.

27 thoughts on “Lens-Artists Challenge #390: Colour in Black and White”

  3. Steve, what a terrific gallery! You picked some amazing themes to show color in black and white. The flamingo is outstanding, and so are the other images, including those boxes that are part of our daily lives. We “see” the colors in monochrome. I gotta say that the bridge was another great example. The rust and peeling paint are the details we need to see.

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    • Thank you John. I didn’t even think of that when I posted that Danbo but you’re absolutely right. Me and my wife were discussing this in the Hyde kitchen earlier today (riveting I know). We both agreed that one of the easiest to recognise would be the McDonalds logo and associated colours. The run one add over here with no text, just their corporate brand colours.

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