Why I prefer black and white

[squirrel$$$bandit]

What it comes down to, I think, is that good color is really, really hard. It's hard for anyone, I'd think, though harder for me, because I'm red/green color-poor and things never really look the way I think they look.

I LOVE post-processing black and white--I feel a sense of profound creative control, and the limitations of the medium strike me as evocative and moving. I certainly love to look at a good color photo, but whenever I'm working with color myself, I have to resist the strong urge to click the grayscale button. It's not that I'm lazy, it's more that the work that goes into making a really good color print seems wasted to me, much of the time. Sometimes I think I should buckle down and try to master it, then I develop another roll of TriX or XX and wonder why I'd bother doing anything differently.

I'd say a good 60% of my color images get converted to black and white, and more than half the time I'm just shooting B&W to begin with.

 

[Chris101]

Me too Mabe.

In fact I am fully deuteranopic - no M cones to speak of. Saturated blues and yellows stand out, but everything else is just shades of brown. So I like color pictures that either feature the colors I see, or are compositions in tans, beiges and brown. (And man, am I ever embarrassed when they tell me it was orange, pink and green!)

So yeah, I am a B&W photographer. And (if I do say so myself) I have developed my monochrome vision because of my colorblindness. To me and my style, it's a blessing. Just don't let me pick out my own clothes.

 

[A440]

I'm colour-blind too and prefer shooting B&W...am not confident about shooting in colour at all. I wonder if lots of us B&W shooters are colour-blind?

 

[Benjamin Marks]

Well, I've got cones that work and I still prefer B&W. I think part of it is just how our expectations are set when we learn to see images. But also, I think the degree of abstraction from the world helps focus on the essentials. I do love some color stuff: Harry Callahan springs to mind. The current B&W conversion protocol in CS3 is pretty good. But currently I am experimenting with Alien Skin exposure.

Check out the guard fourth from the left (if you can see at this res.) There is one in every crowd. M8 CV 15 Heliar, cropped severely. Still working on the "skewing".

Ben

 

[bmattock]

I am also color-blind. I cannot easily edit scanned color film - if it does not scan 'true', I cannot see any color-casts in it, which makes life difficult. I tend to prefer shooting color with digital these days. I prefer B&W film to B&W digital conversion.

I have also found over the years that my particular color deficiency favors looking at the world in a B&W way. Not that I see in B&W, but that I naturally disregard a lot of the information that color gives other people, because for me, it is unreliable. I tend to look at light and shadow, contrast, texture, and movement.

Camouflage does not work on me, and when I first joined the military, I actually thought it was intended as a joke - I mean, I thought everyone could tell that it did not 'blend in' with the surroundings as they said it did.

My wife also picks out my clothes. If it wasn't for her, I'd be dressing like the circus was in town.

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Pentagon take note, all snipers should be color blind. 😉

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I think the degree of abstraction from the world helps focus on the essentials.

YES. Very well put. I didn't intend for this to be a colorblindness discussion, as that's only one reason I like B&W!

I am also color-blind. I cannot easily edit scanned color film - if it does not scan 'true', I cannot see any color-casts in it, which makes life difficult.

That is indeed my main problem--white balance. I know some people can fix scanned-negative color casts in seconds, but when I post my color film shots here, people always tell me there's a cast that I thought I fixed!

 

[Trius]

I am not colour blind at all, but I prefer b&w for a variety of reasons. In short I feel b&w supports/reveals a type of truth and reality that colour can mask. When colour is stripped away, I can observe and concentrate on form, light, texture, etc.

I prefer silver halide for b&w as my opinion is the the way light is modulated by grain is preferable to C41 dye clouds. But desaturated C41 does offer some nice results in certain situation.

 

[Nando]

I'm in complete agreement with Earl. In addition, I find myself worrying/thinking more when I shoot in colour. The more complicated and colourful a scene, the more I want to shoot it in black and white. I'm not saying that shooting black and white is easier than colour photography in general. For me personally, I find that I'm able to deal with black and white better.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I am not color blind. I just wanted to say that because this seemed to be the color blind photographer's support group. 🙂

Still, I have always prefered form and shadow to color. Ektar has me liking a bit of color lately, but most everything I do is black and white.

Both my sons are Red/Green difficient (a genetic gift from my wife's father). I am encouraging both to experiment with photography, telling them that they can do great things regardless.

 

[35mmdelux]

Color:
William Christianberry
William Eggleston

I like B&W when its compelling as in Salgado & Koudelka. I shoot very little of it as I find it anachronistic.

 

[Trius]

Of course, Kodachrome negates everything I said. 😀

PS. Hey Nando, I moving ( temporarily) closer to Soo. I'll be working in Windsor for awhile. On step at a time. 😉

 

[Tom A]

For decades I shoot color commercially - and bl/w was always my "relief" from doing this. When I stopped doing work for "pay" I also decided to stay with black/white and for the last 20 years that has been my norm.
I also like how black/white accentuates the form and shape of a subject. Color can easily overpower an image - and it becomes about the color, not what the subject is,
There is also the "control" that one has over black/white. I like the process of fiddling with developers and print chemistry as well as stranger films (old Tech Pan, Agfa Scopix X-ray film, Fuji's Minicopy II etc). Occasionally it takes my entire supply of a film to establish how to shoot and develop it - but that is part of the fun of it.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Color:
William Christianberry
William Eggleston

I like B&W when its compelling as in Salgado & Koudelka. I shoot very little of it as I find it anachronistic.

If I had an eye for color like Eggleston, i would certainly shoot it more often! he is probably the main reason I shoot it at all. His stuff is very inspiring to me.

Anachronistic, though? Seriously? Like, say, paintings? Or the guitar? Or the piano? Or singing? Or novel writing? Or dancing? I realize that B&W photography does have certain historical connotations, but it doesn't take much imagination to see through them to its robustness as a medium separate from, but complementary to, color photography.

 

[35mmdelux]

The color of Meyerowitz speak volumes to me. There is something there that resonates although I cant quite figure out what it is.

 

[aizan]

b&w is just out of fashion. like pleated pants (which are making a comeback, btw).

 

[kshapero]

Funny you should ask. I have my remaining color film up in the classifieds right now. Working with Ilford XP2 right now. Was thinking of getting my Tri-X darkroom going again but I am getting such good results from the Ilford C41, I might just stick with that.

 

[crawdiddy]

I'm also R-G color-blind (actually deficient, as someone said).

I used to shoot lots of Kodachrome and Velvia. I enjoy color, but I also found I wasn't seeing it exactly like others were.

I've been shooting more HP5+ lately. Great color is indeed seductive, but I find B&W tonality is every bit as satisfying.

 

[aizan]

yeah, but look at the rest of the title: "1974-1984". that show is not of contemporary work.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Still, it's a hit show--it may well spark a renaissance.