Dancing Shadows… for the #monomad challenge

Black & White Photographs: Johnny Club Opening Night, 2022
Canon 60D | 50mm f/1.8 & 70-300mm lenses.

The opening night of Johnny Club marked a turning point for the local nightlife scene. A space that had been empty just days before suddenly came alive; filled with lights, bodies, and music. For many, it was just another party. For me, it was a unique opportunity to tell a story with soul, texture, and contrast… in black and white.

Earlier that day, I had been shooting a wedding. I was exhausted when I finished, but something told me not to go home. I rushed straight to Johnny Club, no time to recharge, no second battery. Every shot had to count. There was no room for error. And most importantly: I refused to use flash. Despite the darkness of the club, I chose to trust what I knew as a lighting technician and photographer. I leaned into the existing light, every beam, every bounce, every ray cutting through artificial fog, and used it like brushes on a canvas.

The choice to shoot in black and white wasn’t about style, it was about emotion. In an environment flooded with artificial color, I sought the raw essence, the symbolic weight of the moment. I wanted every image to convey a real feeling, stripped of filters. Silhouettes wrapped in light, bodies painted like living sculptures, glances barely visible through shadows… all captured in fleeting seconds. My challenge was to trap those moments, preserve them, and return their intensity through contrast.

The Canon 60D, paired with a 50mm f/1.8 and 70-300mm, were my tools. But it was experience, intuition, and urgency that led each frame. I had no choice, every click was a life or death visual decision.

This series is a tribute to that night: to the euphoria, the movement, the sensuality, the mystery. To everything that happens when a new space opens and dares to become a legend. It’s also a tribute to photography made with a racing pulse, a tired but determined mind, and a heart poured into every shadow.