Do most people "get" black and white?

filmtwit said:
My pet peeve is how often folks don't understand the difference between B&W photography and Monochrome photography.

Sigh.
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Mine is those who make a pointless fuss about the difference. Show me a "pure" black/white/grey with NO "warm tone", "cool tone" or metamerism.

Yes, monochrome image tones make a difference. And?

Sigh.

Cheers

R.
 
Mine is those who make a pointless fuss about the difference. Show me a "pure" black/white/grey with NO "warm tone", "cool tone" or metamerism.

Yes, monochrome image tones make a difference. And?

Sigh.
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I'll see your sigh and raise you the head of a pin and a large number of angels.
 
My nearly 90-year-old father-in-law invariably says, when I show him my latest B&W photos, "Oh, so you're still taking black-and-white pictures?" with the clear implication that I'm wasting my time, and after all the world is in color, etc etc. He's not an uncultured man by any means, and obviously grew up in a world when all photos were B&W. I think it's an acquired taste.
 
CliveC said:
A lot of the time when I show most friends, family and coworkers black and white photos, I get the distinct feeling that they don't understand why I chose to take or convert them in black and white.

Not all vocalize it, but more than once I have been met with "Why the black and white?" and I struggle to explain without sounding terribly pretentious.

I'm not a fine art photographer by any means, but I've been accused of being unnecessarily artsy fartsy with photos. I like high contrast, moody pictures sometimes, but it's as if people want (and expect) to see snapshots. I've been asked to take photos at family occasions and people who see the photos seem disappointed they aren't all in colour. (They also wonder why I seem to snap hundreds of shots but present a couple of dozen, but that's another story.)

These days I mostly just respond with a shrug: "I like it that way."

Thoughts?
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Why do you shoot B+W?
 
CliveC said:
. . . .

These days I mostly just respond with a shrug: "I like it that way."

Thoughts?
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If people are being argumentative about it, that's the right answer. Leave it there.
If someone is seriously interested in your thinking, pull them aside and discuss it with them.
Don't do this in a group discussion, all you will get are arguments from people who will never never never understand your viewpoint (nor will they care to).
These people will take a (color) snapshot with their cell phone and show you how pretty it looks, "See how nice color is?"
 
I've been shooting black and white film exclusively over the past year or so, and sharing the results online here, and with friends on Instagram and Facebook. I shoot everyday life, my family, as well as some street stuff. I carry the camera everywhere. I get the most engaged response from people here in the gallery, which incidentally is most gratifying (when people you don't know personally have positive things to say about your work). Maybe this is because we're all learning to see in a similar way?

As for my friends and family, some appreciate it, but I think the majority think I'm being a bit strange shooting black and white film, or perhaps even wasting my time and money. For them, perhaps it's a bit confusing for them seeing a mix of personal and 'artsy' type stuff, presented in the same online space. I think beyond black and white, many of them don't get why I would shoot anything other than smiley, happy people.

No one has really asked me, why? But I can articulate why. I like black and white because it's one more step abstracted from reality, and causes me to view things in a more contemplative way. I generally dislike super-realism. I don't particularly want the latest digital camera. I don't mind grainy images, or lack of shadow detail, as it engages my imagination. I like the slower experience of shooting a film camera, and like feeling attached to the images I work hard to develop.

I have been occasionally jeered for being a bit artsy, but I could care less. I choose to believe that being artistic is part of my temperament, and is who and how I want to be in the world, regardless of the merit of my work. I also don't believe that when it comes to creativity, that some people are incredibly gifted and others are just ordinary. I guess, I'm suggesting that when it comes to making or viewing creative output of any kind, it requires a degree of engagement. If people don't get it, maybe they could, with a bit more engagement. If my images aren't great yet, maybe they could be, with a bit more engagement.

When I first heard Hendrix, it wasn't easy to digest, and was completely foreign to my 12 year old ears in 1984, but I instantly knew that it would change everything for me if I persevered. Similarly with John Coltrane later on.

The difficulty for me, when people don't get the things I'm in to, is not retreating to a snob-like position presuming they couldn't appreciate Robert Frank, Ralph Gibson, Daniel Lanois or Bill Frisell. Occasionally people are more game than I give them credit for.
 
Standing as viewer and not producer.
Seeing street photography groups, B&W is almost the norm. Same thing in the film camera user group mostly because of the increasing cost of film and development. There's many interesting photo in B&W, and the photographers often tell the argument about how it removes distraction, giving impression that B&W makes it easier for them to take good pictures.

So I came to expect the reverse. How about colours ?
Not modelling, they don't click with me. Not landscape, usually they look over saturated & over processed. Street photography in colour (that's not overprocessed).
B&W still form the majority of street photography gallery though.

Never told them directly. That's my preference, and the photographers have theirs.
 
I think the majority of people are accustomed to viewing "images" in color. Television is our main source of storytelling with images. I don't think people don't get B&W photography…I just don't think they see it often.

I guess my point is that color is what they "mostly" know.
 
In today's social media environment, the average viewer sees so many images in a single day, especially with video, and all in color that B&W might offer something different but that also means that the average viewer notices first that the photo is in B&W before noticing its content.


During the film era there was a clear divide between B&W and color films, there were certain subjects that only B&W could handle and some that was better in color. Today with digital there is no B&W and color, there is a RAW file.

One cannot imagine Eggleston's work in B&W and Salgado's in color, but today there could never be an Eggleston or a Salgado, because one can no longer pick a certain photographic pony and play a certain one trick with it - there is no longer any place for a one trick pony in photography. A photographer today needs to be an Eggleston and a Salgado all in one, which means B&W and color are not the main issue when it comes to people getting or not getting a photo. The biggest challenge that faces a photographer today is whether it is at all possible to photograph for others. How many people do you know who photograph because people demand that they photograph?

Photograph for yourself and if you get your photos, you're a successful photographer.
 
CliveC said:
A lot of the time when I show most friends, family and coworkers black and white photos, I get the distinct feeling that they don't understand why I chose to take or convert them in black and white.

Not all vocalize it, but more than once I have been met with "Why the black and white?" and I struggle to explain without sounding terribly pretentious.

I'm not a fine art photographer by any means, but I've been accused of being unnecessarily artsy fartsy with photos. I like high contrast, moody pictures sometimes, but it's as if people want (and expect) to see snapshots. I've been asked to take photos at family occasions and people who see the photos seem disappointed they aren't all in colour. (They also wonder why I seem to snap hundreds of shots but present a couple of dozen, but that's another story.)

These days I mostly just respond with a shrug: "I like it that way."

Thoughts?
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I like it that way, too. But the other day (month ago) I took a photo of a young women and her child while I was loafing around with my friends at coffee. When I gave it to her this week she said, 'WOW' and I think she meant it. She also said it was traditional, and had more impact than color. I went back to my friends and said, 'Now shut up about B&W.'

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The question, I think, belies a generational divide. Until USA Today came
along, B+W photography was a commonplace. If you were reading newspapers,
you were getting B+W photos.

Gannett's introduction of color with USA Today began to erode that standard.
And then the Internet came along and pushed newspapers to the margins.
So to younger people, B+W photos seem exotic somehow. But to people over
50, there is nothing remarkable about B+W photos -- except maybe surprise
to encounter people still making them.
 
This is one of the joyous parts of shooting at parties and events with a Polaroid.

"Why is it in black and white?"
"the film is black and white film."
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"Oooh, can you take another picture?"
"sorry, only ten pictures on a pack, and I only had one pack with me"
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Last event I shot was a birthday party with the Polaroid 350 Land Camera on Fuji FP-100c. it was amuzing.

"Oooh, love the color, but I was hoping for the black and white you did at the last party..."
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LOL!

I work in color because I like color. I work in B&W because I like B&W. What other people think is up to them.

G

Just because no one understands you doesn't make you a great artist.
 
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