Freelance videomaker and visual artist Julianna Thomas did something unique recently: she shot an entire series of black and white subjects, but in color. As a response to one of her greatest pet peeves, Thomas created "Black & White In Color" as a "personal response to treating black and white as an editing afterthought."
The video is stunning, but might still be seen as a short "first step" into this study of Thomas' due to the short cuts between clips and perhaps slight imperfections one might notice in the way that the subject matter is not always perfectly white or black. Aside from the natural, pinkish-toned hand in the introduction, dark greens and subtle blues and magentas can be seen oozing from ink splatters diluted in water on occasion. However, Thomas comes forward with this in her description for the video, stating that these colors separate from ink just a few minutes after mixing with water. And she would know after the year and a half of experimentation and testing that it took to gather this body of clips alone.
Overall, "Black & White In Color" is a stunning look into the world of things that simply are black and white. Black ink mixes with clear water, pouring out of nothingness onto a flat surface, expanding like the milk foam through the crema of your artisan-crafted cappuccino. White ink splashes into water in a black environment, spreading like fireworks into tentacles of ink that end into a pooled head of what could only be likened to the form of a jellyfish. Even ants can be spotted working on what seem to be sugar crystals before the organic and raw nature of human hair breaks into the frame — all almost entirely in black and white, but with the added touch of the most subtle variations in temperature that we can't pinpoint, but that we know add an intangible depth to each sequence.
More of Julianne Thomas' work can be seen on her website and on her Vimeo page.
