Black and white photography offers a perspective on a subject or scene that high resolution colour photography does not. As black and white images are often grainy and low definition, we associate them with scenes of the past, which often evokes feelings of nostalgia of a wistful yearning to re-experience scenes or events from long ago. As such, converting low definition images to black and white can spur the imagination and leave a person to ponder the meaning of an image or to reminisce about the scenes or era they represent.

Taking photographs in China lends itself to this style. Compared to the sights that we are familiar with in the west, the cities and villages appear dated and rudimentary. Chinese architecture, sampans, ricksaws, and downtrodden tourists in the Forbidden Palace; they are all made for black and white conversions. As such, I managed to capture a number of images travelling between Hong Kong, Lijiang, and Beijing.