New Harpenden exhibition puts everything in black and white

A major retrospective exhibition of work by celebrated local Harpenden photographer Steve Collins has launched at the Eric Morecambe Centre in the town.

‘Looking at the Black and White World’ is his second solo exhibition at the EMC, following the acclaimed Harpenden Icons series, six images from which remain on permanent display in the EMC’s theatre bar.

Running until June 28, Looking at the Black and White World brings together 40 award-winning photographs spanning a decade of dedicated artistic practice.

The exhibition showcases the full range of Steve’s vision, from candid street photography and social documentary to intimate portraiture, architectural studies, and conceptual abstraction.

All work presented in black and white – a choice that, as he explains, strips away distraction to reveal what truly matters.

He explained: “Black and white photography forces both photographer and viewer to engage with form, light, shadow, and emotion in their purest state. By removing the distraction of colour, the monochrome palette demands clarity and invites deeper contemplation.

“Some of the exhibition’s most powerful images wrestle with contemporary social issues – including work documenting the protests around Grenfell and Palestine, themes of urban isolation and identity.

“Others celebrate the geometry of the built environment or explore the human form as pure architecture. A number of photographs in this exhibition embody what Henri Cartier-Bresson termed ‘the decisive moment’ – that perfect intersection of composition, timing, and content where all elements align to create a complete and resonant image.”

Captured over a decade, using either various Canon cameras or the favourite of street photographers – a Ricoh GR camera – each image is crafted with precision, employing high and low key techniques to distil subjects to their essence. A number of the photographs employ conceptual or experimental approaches, including multiple exposure, long exposure, intentional camera movement (ICM), and layered imagery, that push the boundaries of what photography can communicate.

“Black and white photography is timeless,” Steve adds. “It speaks to something essential in how we see. This retrospective represents a decade of looking – not just at the world, but at what the world reveals when we really pay attention.”