Black & White
“Why don’t you shoot in colour?” A frequently asked question and familiar to anybody who prefers Black & White photography.
Of course, most of us see the world in colour and thus colour photos can appear the real thing, even though any picture is in fact an abstraction from reality. B & W in contrast can be perceived as not showing what was really there when the photo was taken. Though this tends to forget that colour can also be manipulated.
When photography began the only option was B & W. Actually, most images come in shades of grey rather than being truly black or white. And these shades are made up of - colour. In the early days it was filters that allowed to change the tone of leaves, for example, by blocking red light. Nowadays that’s of course much easier in the digital darkroom.
None of that explains the increasing popularity of B & W, my personal preference. My feeling for B&W evolved over time as I increasingly noticed that B & W emphasises the tone, texture, light and the balance of the composition. It can evoke a mood that’s harder to replicate in colour by focusing on certain elements in the photo. An example is in the photo above where the clouds are more strongly emphasised in B & W, thus creating more drama. This can bring a different perspective to the viewer.
To some extent B & W can simplify images that could otherwise be overpowering in colour by being drawn into the different tones, and it adds a certain timelessness to a photo, or in other words a classic look. The focus on light and composition and textures can emphasise the beauty of a scene, so making it an automatic choice for this project.
That’s not to say B & W is better than colour or vice versa, they are different approaches, and it is fair to say not every photo works well in B & W. To make a sunset look good in B & W is almost the ultimate challenge.
There have been many famous B & W photographers and photos, Ansel Adams, the American Landscape Photographer well known for his photos from the Yosemete region and Don McCullin, the British Photographer whose career encompasses war photography, gritty photos from Britain in the 70s and 80s, and moody Somerset landscapes.
Landscape and Street photography in B & W is increasing in popularity. Check out these links for some inspiration:
Paul Sanders: https://www.discoverstill.com; inspirational and meditative landscape photography.
Kevin Mullins: https://www.ministryofshadows.co.uk; wedding and street photographer with a distinctive style.
Michael Kenna: https://www.michaelkenna.com; Black & White landscapes with almost ethereal light, famous for his long-exposure pictures.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: https://huxleyparlour.com/artists/henri-cartier-bresson; the master of candid photography who coined the phrase ‘the decisive moment’.