The Liberation of Limitation - with Alan Schaller

Alan Schaller, an early adopter of black and white photography in the digital age, was among the first to get his hands on the new Leica M10 Monochrom. Narrative and reduction – two essential factors that are the hallmark of street photographer Alan Schaller’s visual signature. In dense, atmospheric images he manages to capture life in all its shapes and shades. Outstanding images are never a matter of chance. They require dedication, courage and the will to do whatever it takes to see a vision realised. As an icon of contemporary black and white photography, Alan Schaller’s distinctive visual style works as a universal language understood around the world. Equipped with the new Leica M10 Monochrom, Alan wandered grey and rainy London, shedding light on the liberating quality he finds in limitations. Since the beginning of his career, Alan Schaller decided not to look for colours, using a focal length of 24mm for the most part. These decisions helped him develop an eye for the interplay of light, geometry and humans. “Experimenting will only get you to a certain point.” To decide early on how and what he wanted to shoot, ignoring all other photographic opportunities, has enabled Alan to define his own niche and learn how to master it. “You need courage to know what your direction is.” The concept behind an image is as important to a photographer as the image itself. Only a body of work that shows consistency creates recognition. “You have to go out and engage. Only then will it come to you.” Alan Schaller’s images often seem to convey a deeper message, but don’t expect an exact explanation from the photographer – he likes to leave them open to interpretation.