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  #1  
Old 19th January 2015, 05:50 PM
Martyn Martyn is offline
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Default Why Black and White?

Something I have always struggled to justify is why are most of my non-commercial pictures shot in black and white and on film. I end up mumbling something about just being more comfortable with the process, that I have done it for a long time and I can control what is happening. It all seems a bit feeble to me. And all that tosh about B/W being the colour of photography, or having more 'soul', what ever that means, just sounds silly. A teacher of mine once asked why B/W, when conducting a critique of my B/W pictures of Kurdish refugees. I could give no real, reasoned justification, just my usual mumbling. He argued that as my pictures concerned a contemporary, political issue, my photos should be in colour, as B/W provides a timeless look - my pictures could have been made at any point in history so were removed from the implications. I continued in colour for that project. How do other FADU members justify their choice of B/W or colour, or for that matter... film, now what justification could there be for that little perversity in this day and age? Can anybody come up with a proper reason?
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Old 19th January 2015, 06:03 PM
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I don't justify what I do - beyond it is whatI like to do.
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Old 19th January 2015, 06:26 PM
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Reduction.
(there is too much pink in this world)
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Old 19th January 2015, 07:19 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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B&W a timeless look? Isn't it the opposite? Have a look at how most film makers depict the "past" in their colour films. They revert to B&W and if it's early 20th century that is depicted they even throw in sepia

In the case of photojournalism B&W concentrates on the situation the people find themselves in without the distraction of colour. I strongly suspect that colour shots of the Balkans' conflict of the 1990s or Vietnam in the mid to late 60s would have less impact.

Mike
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Old 19th January 2015, 07:22 PM
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Your teacher sounds like a jerk. Black and white is often stronger in message and it's simplicity allows you to see more negative and positive forms within the composition. Stick with it.
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Old 19th January 2015, 07:29 PM
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It's tempting to think of photographs as being 'realistic'. Reflected flight from our subject strikes the film, and a chemical process preserves that instant.
Optics, mechanics, chemistry. All science. Not like painting, which is all subjective. Except of course it isn't really true. All photographs are representation of reality. There was some discussion recently about photography as Art. Every step of the process involves a decision. Format, grain, focal length, exposure, DoF, duration. Every decision changes the look of the image. It is a highly subjective process.

Once, all photos were black and white because there was no choice. Now colour is all pervasive. Most people these days taking photos are using digital devices and shooting in colour. It's easy. It's expected. Choosing black and white nowadays is a conscious choice. A statement, if you like. I want it to be clear I'm choosing the process. Black and White celebrates texture and tonality.

I think B&W makes it clear you're inviting the viewer to explore your photograph as a created image, rather than looking through some imaginary window at the real world.
B&W also taps into some of our learned expectations- I just visited Photo.net and browsed their top 350 images. 51 are black and white. Guess what? Most of the B&W are 'street' or 'grand landscape'.
Using B&W can, I suspect, be a kind of visual short-hand to influence the viewer. It links the photograph to the past masters- Adams, HCB, Evans.

It's a trick which won't work for much longer. The preponderance of colour, and the use of colour by many of todays most famous photographers, will eventually make it just as 'respectable' as B&W. Who knows- in another 20 years (or 10?) maybe using B&W will look like pure affectation.

For me, I've used B&W for so long now it has become ingrained. It's how I 'see' photographs. I love the huge, delicately separated range of greys a good print can hold. I like being able to bend reality in some prints. B&W let's me take one negative and print it many different ways, and each will work in it's own right. With colour, tampering too much with reality can feel jarring, or just look wrong.

I don't dislike colour (who couldn't like Ernst Hass??) I shoot some occasionally, but find it's less and less.
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Old 19th January 2015, 07:37 PM
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David Brown David Brown is offline
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Other than a teacher in an academic setting, you do not have to justify your choice of materials or methods. Remember, in an academic setting, a teacher is going to challenge everything you do, it's part of the drill. One cannot take it personally. And, if all one does is exactly what the teacher tells them to do, they have not really learned much, have they?

You'll probably find this "silly":

http://silverdarkroom.net/?page_id=167
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Old 19th January 2015, 08:09 PM
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I hope this does not sound grumpy, it is not meant to, but I shoot B&W because I can, and because I choose to.

Ian
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Old 19th January 2015, 08:35 PM
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There is no need to justify passion or love.
J.
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Old 19th January 2015, 09:03 PM
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I shoot B&W because the photos I most enjoy looking at are B&W.
It's a simple aesthetic choice, like preferring Jazz to Blues or Philip Larkin to Dylan Thomas.
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