Monochrome Monday

In 2018, I had been on VERO for about a year and wanted to try editing some of my many mountain photographs in black and white. I loved the way the sky and clouds looked in a moody mountain shot - there’s such gravitas about a black and white shot and something I had not really embraced at this point.

I posted the following shot from the French Alps. I got a few compliments about the edit, and a conversation ensued. It dawned on me that we could start a trend on VERO that would encourage anyone and everyone to post a black and white image on a particular day. Using a hashtag would make it easier to find. We could make a thing!

“#momo stood out as the perfect linchpin to bring it all together.
”

— Julia Revitt

After discounting Black and White Wednesday and Desaturated Saturday, Monochrome Monday was born.

I wanted the # to be catchy, much like #tbt (Throwback Thursday) was on Twitter and Instagram at the time, and #momo stood out as the perfect linchpin to bring it all together.

A week after the idea was born, on May 21st, 2018, I posted my first #momo shot:

Monochrome Monday grew over the next few weeks and months as more and more people heard about it and wanted to get involved.

After two years of incredible black-and-white art shared through #momo, we felt so inspired by the community spirit that we created a Monochrome Monday book (Volume 1); A collection of images from photographers on VERO that represented the genre.

It took about a year to come together - completely taking over our apartment for a while!

Produced and designed by myself and Andrew Revitt and beautifully printed by Ex Why Zed Print, we created a book representing unique perspectives and togetherness. It sold out on VERO in less than a week!

Every Monday since the beginning, I have loved to spend the evening going through the images posted that day and comment on as many as possible - introducing community Members and connecting people through our shared passion.

I’ve managed to post an image every Monday since the launch day - that’ll be 260 #momo images by the time this article comes out.

We’ve seen images from all over the world, from many different subjects and cultures, and from so many different people. It’s a great insight into the diverse nature of the VERO community.

Participation in Monochrome Monday is as strong as ever, with hundreds of images posted weekly. Even the legend Zack Snyder has posted one!

If you haven’t already, come and join in the fun. Post a monochrome image on a Monday and tag it with #momo. Don’t forget to check out the other posts that have used the # and leave a word of encouragement on posts you like!

Here’s to another five years of Monochrome Monday (and maybe a Volume 2).