Monochrome Photography
20 Old Black-and-White Photographs
with Accompanying Verses
“All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” – Leo Tolstoy
Dr Abe V Rotor
Driftwood
- AVRotor, Light in the Woods 1995
The ultimate test of any civilization
is not in its inventions and deeds,
but the endurance of Mother Nature
in keeping up with man's needs.
“Black and white does more to evoke an emotion and freeze
a moment in time.” – Kyle Anstey
Young Pilot
(On board a Huey helicopter
from Cebu to Siquijor)
Thirteen were on the beat,
and I was the thirteenth
sharing the gunner's seat
on Friday, the thirteenth,
when at thirteen feet
above the choppy channel,
an omen challenged courage -
a young face turned and beamed
the confidence I lacked.
- AV Rotor 1993
“Life is in color, but black and white is more realistic.”
– Samuel Fuller
Home Garden
My Late Son, Pao and his Yaya, Conching
Lagro QC
This is a patch of Eden,
the work of Grimm's Seven*,
a shade in the lost Garden
and a li'l corner of Heaven.
Fish play in the pond,
Crucifers grow on sand,
and tomatoes line the bund,
while vine reach for the sun.
- AV Rotor 1994
It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451, commonly found throughout Europe.
Other variants of the Aarne–Thompson type include The Six Swans,
The Twelve Wild Ducks, Udea and her Seven Brothers, The Wild Swans,
and The Twelve Brothers. Wikipedia
Old Carillon
Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur
Your bells in the distance are a chime,
Music on the wind, reminder of time,
Calling the lost lambs from across the sea,
And linking your host in the Holy See.
Hull and Outrigger
UST Biological Station
Palauig, Zambales
Someone invented your hull.
Another your outrigger
Which comes one-sided
Or in winglike pair.
Your hull slices the water
While your arm rides on the crest.
In duo you conquer
The river and the sea,
Linking the islands in chain
Since the time of the Odyssey.
“Black and white does more to evoke an emotion
and freeze a moment in time.” – Kyle Anstey
The "Tablon" Sawers*
St. Vincent, Illinois
If Millet were to paint this scenario,
In the masterpiece of "Man with a Hoe";
If Markham puts meaning in these duo,
Then life is a see-saw, see-saw, see-saw.
* Age old way of cutting lumber into broad planks
locally called "tablon". San Vicente is well known
for furniture making.
“The simplicity of black and white is the complexity of the extraordinary.” – Vikrmn
Danajon Reef
Western Coast of Bohol
Far, far away by boat,
away from drudgery
at the other side of a moat
is this blue, blue sea -
a Shangri-La to soothe scars,
where in quiet reminiscence
Two Sisters, Two Mothers
Sister Angelina Rojas and Mrs Cecilia Rojas Rotor
the corals and stars
twinkle in cadence,
where the sky meets the sea,
the cloud rises from the water,
and fishes sail to the sky.
And I? Oh,
I'm but a foreign matter.
“Black and white creates a strange dreamscape that colour
never can.” – Jack Antonoff
Stalagmite Image
Courtesy of Emmanuel Pattaguan
UST Graduate School
Deep in an unknown cave somewhere
Grew an image from a living stone;
Its semblance and regal pose bear
The touch for the sinful to atone.
“Black and white can transform a scene into something magical.”
– Rob Sheppard
Two Sisters, Two Mothers
Sister Angelina Rojas and Mrs Cecilia Rojas Rotor
Each found the true meaning of life;
One in contemplation, the other in strife;
One keeps the Faith converting people,
The other keeps the number of faithful.
“Black and white are the colours of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.” – Robert Frank
Fumarole
Mud Spring
Mt Makiling, Laguna
I say you are truly a good daughter,
For you release the anger of your mother
That would in her episode smother
My lovely mountain and those I care.
“Black and white can transform a scene
into something magical.” – Rob Sheppard
Laguna Bay
It is a Gulliver's World
or the Madurodam*,
but no, it is a miniscule
from the air of man's dream
to create a world of his own,
the little God in him
defying God himself;
he commands the land,
water and the wind
across the breadth
beyond his grasp
or any measure
but his death.
* Madurodam is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district
of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas
of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large developments. Wikipedia
“In the history of photography, we have many masterpieces in black and white, and you can learn a lot from them. We’re all still working in a tradition – both in terms of art and in terms of science.” – Hiroshi Sugimoto
Well
St. Vincent, Illinois
I dug and dug and dug
And looked to Heaven.
Deeper.
I dug and dug and dug.
Deeper.
I looked to Heaven.
How much deeper?
Until you see the sun.
Dr. AV Rotor, 1994
“To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white
is a delight for the soul.” – Andri Cauldwell
 |
Magsingal, Ilocos Sur
I think I understand you,
old tower with many faces,
each bearing a bell or two,
that once reached far places.
You have no front and back,
yet I know where your door faces,
your right and left you may lack,
so with your baroque laces.
You look the same in any view,
and your tiers make a huge stair;
such is the faith your maker knew;
into the bosom it found its lair
Dr. A. V. Rotor, 1994
“The world is in color, you have to work at black and white.” – Andrew Maclean
Sweet memories bring a wit laid,
When I was a child I played
Your game of click-click-click,
Telling me if life is bright or bleak;
Pressing your breast, my wish implied,
With all I wanted, you complied.
* The thorax-abdomen joint is equipped with a catapult lock.
When released, a clicking sound is produced, and the force it creates
is enough to reverse the insect from upside to normal position.
“With black and white, what you get is a timeless capture that doesn’t lean on colors but the pure essence of the subject.” – Anonymous ~
Old Woman Spinning
Baket Icca, Paguraper,
Santo Domingo, Illinois
She spins all day
throughout her life,
maguey fiber to rope,
in countless arms length,
sipping out her strength.
Even with sight failing
she treads on to the end
in her only vocation
with the precision
of an old song.
She is the last
of the Mohicans
in a sunset trade;
the maguey cord
will ne'er be heard
Dr. A. V. Rotor, 1994
Polymorphism*
Tell me about your perfect, faultless DNA,
The code that makes you a perfect star.
With four or six arms what do you say?
Ah, Nature has veered a little too far.
How come the four- or six-armed find
Give birth to your five-armed kind?
Tell me of your perfect, faultless DNA
And there is nothing more I can say
* Starfishes normally have five arms. There are however, few variants with four or six arms.
Nightbreak
Pantabangan Lake, Nueva Ecija
The lake meets the sinking sun,
as the fishes join their clan,
while the shores grow calm,
as soon the day is done,
save the breeze blowing,
the leaves whispering,
casting a friendly scare
as the young ones stare
beneath the arms that care.
Dr. AV Rotor, 1994
“Black and white creates a strange dreamscape
that color never can.” – Jack Antonoff
Agno River, Santa, Ilocos Sur)
Flow from the rills and streams,
flow across the Abra Valley
and between the Cordillera ranges;
flow down and deposit your load
on the dove-tailed delta of Santa
and alluvia of Caoayan and Vigan;
flow into the estuaries of Puerto,
the fishponds of Santa Catalina
and the salt beds of San Sebastian,
or meet the tired rivers of Bantaoay
coming from San Ildefonso and Bantay;
Flow into the bedrock and aquifers
that feed the springs and wells
that water the fields of San Vicente
and the tail ends of the uplands.
You are now tired and spent
and now, you rest on the China Sea
and to the bosom of your Creator.
Dr A V Rotor, 1995
Bongabong, Nueva Ecija
All the world in two faces can be glee,
One loves bulbs, the other flowers,
And onions and lilies though in one family,
Are raised by different growers.
Lies in one the secret of strength,
The other reverence and beauty;
One a natural source of health,
The other the symbol of frailty.
Yet Nature keeps her balance in duality,
For he who works and he who prays,
Are received in the same dignity
Deserving of the divine grace
Dr A V Rotor, 1994
Maguey Rope Makers*
Barangay Paguraper
Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur
This family in a trade long gone
Works from morn to sundown;
The rope once a pride of our own
Is now replaced with cheap nylon.
* A twilight home industry, rope making has
not changed from the time the Spaniards
introduced maguey from Mexico to the
Philippines during the Galleon Trade era.
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