Documentary photography vs. black/white

[haempe]

Thanks guys, for the further input.
I was on tour for a week and shot some rolls in color, and have to say, this answered the question pretty quickly.
What came out is some absolute-beginners-crap. 😱
It seems I've forgotten how to see colors and composing with the colors.
So I've decided to stick with B/W at the moment and put the point "learning to shoot in color" on the to-do-list...
(... this "If I'll have some spare time sometime" -list..., You know? 🙄)

Best, -h

 

[JoeV]

I don't see color images as intrinsically more lifelike or realistic over monochrome. Especially when you adjust an image's tonal curve in post, you can end up with excessively loud colors in the shadows, for instance; or a scene with subtle coloration can easily be mis-processed to be exaggerated into garishness.

There are so many ways to post-process a color file to achieve various interpretations that it becomes more of a challenge to stick with some consistent personal style. To a lesser extent this is also true of monochrome, so there is some dedication required of the photographer to consciously maintain some consistency that doesn't detract from the documentary nature of the body of work.

~Joe

 

[Deardorff]

If you can't decide what you want to do, why does it matter?

B&W takes the cheezy crutch of color out of the equation.

 

[jsrockit]

B&W takes the cheezy crutch of color out of the equation.

cheezy crutch... :bang: B&W abstracts, most of us see color daily.

 

[Lauffray]

My opinion is forget what documentary photography "should" look like. If I were to start a long term project and had little experience shooting color I'd be a bit apprehensive, on the other hand if you think the project benefits from being done in color, then absolutely shoot it in color.

Being the eternal indecisive I'll even say this, why not start your project shooting both, then figure out which works best for your project. I think it's worth the test if you're aiming long term

 

[Daniel Teoli Jr.]

Last five years I've shot exclusive B/W film and I'm very happy with that.
I'm now in the planning phase for a documentary very-long-time project (speaking of decades) and feel a growing doubt to start this in B/W only.
Especially this thread gives me to think...
Should documentary photography not provide all possible informations for a later viewer?
What do You think?

The “I only shoot BW” photogs can sometimes do an image injustice if they stick to their dogmatic position 100%. Now, I used to be one of those types back in the 1970’s before branching out to color in the 1980’s.

(nsfw)

http://danielteolijr.tumblr.com/

I would look down on the color photogs…I was a purest. It is all ego driven nonsense. The bottom line is this - let the image dictate BW or color, not your ego.

Sometimes the image will work either way. If so, do what you like. Other times it needs to be in color or BW only. Let the image decide and do what is best for the image.

Take a look at this example. It shows how you can lose important information if you put your ego first.

http://testarchives.tumblr.com/image/110723876609

In the above example it could have worked in BW or color. But when it goes BW you lose the bluish light on the upper left. The blue light signifies the prostitute depicted in the graf is a male transsexual. So, that's what is lost in the BW version.