Why black and white?

I think a lot of amateur (in the sense of not being paid) photographers use b&w because they feel/think/are convinced it is more artfull. I haven't seen much good b&w images on the net.
 
Spanik said:
I think a lot of amateur (in the sense of not being paid) photographers use b&w because they feel/think/are convinced it is more artfull. I haven't seen much good b&w images on the net.
Click to expand...

That could be said for all photography in general. The % of good work is very small when compared to the amount of work being posted.

Heres a couple of really good B&W images that are on the world wide web.
http://www.michaeljohnsonphotography.com/

http://www.edelmangallery.com/davidsonshow3.htm

http://omstreifer.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/adams-valley-photo.jpg

Trailer for an upcoming film. Some work in color some in B&W.
http://vimeo.com/70639661#

a few words by Ralph Gibson and why B&W film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMQcE2E-1o
 
I use B&W where colour wouldn't add anything to the message I wish to portray.

Sometimes B&W has a delicate tonal range that might be lost within colour, often colour just doesn't add to the message–I feel most portraits fit this way of thinking...


Fiona by Photo Utopia, on Flickr

I really don't think colour would add anything to this image.
 
Interesting reading!

My feelings are completely different than most posting.

I find black and white : soulless, dead, unrealistic, and lifeless.

Color is exciting, realistic, and alive to my brain.

I think it's easier to shoot black and white, but you must then be satisfied with lower possibilities. In some very low light situations, it might be all that is available for film captures.

But I can't feature ever hanging a black and white image unless it was created before color was possible.

Texsport
 
I don't have to worry about white balance.

Edit: in all seriousness, I actually prefer shooting in color, but black and white makes for a nice change of pace. I also use it when I'm shooting under wildly varying light sources and conditions.
 
Last edited:
Photography is by nature a reductive artistic form; framing edits things out, three dimensions become two, size (nine times out of ten) becomes smaller. Excluding colour is another step in this reductive process. It is not necessary or better, but is a valid choice, and one I make. Colour seduces the viewer into thinking the depiction of the subject is closer to "reality"; monochrome emphasizes the "reality" of the photograph as object. Which is more real?
 
Al83 said:
I've been looking through some of the excellent gallery photos and it strikes me that you experienced types shoot black and white / monochrome more often than you shoot colour. Why is this? Does the film have more latitude to exposure or is it just down to personal preference? Or do people tend to process their own films?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm here because it is RF forum. I like b/w film because it is best media for me to benefit from b/w. Where are several benefits of b/w.
One most important to me is clear separation between still and life.
And color film is too expensive and too chemically aggressive for DIY compare to b/w film.

I benefit from DSLRs a lot for color to take my large family, few friends and odd reportage pictures. Those have nothing to do with Gallery here, IMHO.
But I'll post some colors from my Holga 135 PAN here, later :)
 
When it comes to film, for most, black and white allows you to "do it yourself" from start to finish. Color often means sending your film out and getting stuff back as if by magic.

I feel much more invested in the process when I do everything myself.

Also, it just looks more timeless :) I love looking at close details in photos posted here to see what time period they are taken in. Sometimes it's only a watch or a phone that gives away a modern photo.
 
A lot of people have their reasons but a big reason for me is beause it is cheaper. I love slide film and if I had infinite money, then I would shoot that more often...
 
I find for me I either like B&W or over the top colour and not much in between. I respond best to B&W I think, have a couple of tattoos that are monchrome as well.
Think it is the range of tones available in a great mono shot that works for me.
If in colour then Velvia/Provia colours abound.
 
There are four simple words for the matter, which must be whispered: color photography is vulgar. …When the point of a picture subject is precisely its vulgarity or its color-accident through man's hand, not God's, then only color film can be used validly.

—Walker Evans
 
Color for work - digital, however much heresy that may be - and black and white for my work. I enjoy the whole process, from taking the photograph through developing the film and printing in the darkroom. I have several long-term projects, started in the late 1970s, that began with black and white and are continuing in that mode. I shoot it because I like the results.
 
Texsport said:
Color is about beautiynot vulgarity.

Black and white is never beautiful!

Texsport
Click to expand...

There is an extremely small number of things in this world that are "never" or "always" anything.

That would include Black and White photographic images.

Absolutism rarely if ever holds water.

Just some food for thought... ;)
 
I do BW because there are times I find those colours "distracting", and I personally think BW images can convey stronger "emotions" than colours. And sometimes there are just pictures that doesn't work in colours, but works so well in BW.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom