black and white photography with high contrast and flash by francesco merlini

Farang A photography project by Francesco Merlini

In the time span of three years I’ve taken pictures in Italy, France, Turkey, Thailand and Kosovo. I took pictures of unfamiliar places, pictures of strangers.

The flash of the camera has consecrated my epiphanies, impressing the shroud that lies on the subjects whose truth I’ve discarded. These images are relics of the invisible.

Every picture has an undeniable subject, no space left to distraction. Every picture becomes a tarot card, a singular representation of a collective perception. – Francesco Merlini

– Francesco Merlini is an Italian photographer based in Milan. Represented by the photojournalism agency Prospekt, his photographs have been published in international magazines and websites such as The Washington Post, Time Lightbox, Financial Times and Le Monde. Discover more of his work here

Call for entries

black and white photo of horse on misty road by Ãlvaro Martino
© Ãlvaro Martino
2025 Black & White AWARD

Win $2700 Cash Awards & International Exposure

In a world saturated with colors, we’re turning the spotlight to black and white. Show us your mastery of light, composition, and shadow through any genre of photography, and let’s see how black and white elevates your artistic vision!

  • Win $2700 in Cash Prizes
  • International Exhibition
  • +882k Instagram Feature
  • Free Online Portfolio

Recent Articles

More Articles

Privacy Overview
The Independent Photographer

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website or helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

3rd Party Cookies

We use third-party cookies, including tools like Google Analytics and Meta Pixel, to help us understand how visitors interact with our website. These cookies may track your activity across other websites and are used for analytics, performance monitoring, and advertising purposes.

Enabling these cookies helps us improve your experience and provide relevant offers and content. You can opt out at any time via the cookie settings.