For some time now I’ve been contemplating how I feel about black and white images and more specifically why I am attracted to black and white photography. At the Magnum Workshop when I presented my work after the first day, Larry Towell asked me why I didn’t keep the colour in my dog images. I gave the only answer I could think of at the time which is the conventional wisdom–if colour does not add to or it distracts from the image, then one should process it in black and white. Of course there is also a compositional aspect in terms of which scenes photograph more strongly in black and white i.e. contrast, lines, pattern, texture, etc. I think these two points are a good place to start for most photographers. However having someone like Larry Towell, who photographs exclusively in black and white, pose the question forces one to think more deeply about the question.
Many of the first photographs I ever saw were black and white. Some were neatly bound in small albums that my father would bring out to show us of his time as a student in Canada in the 1950′s. Others from his time in China and Hong Kong and his travels to the Middle East and other parts of the world were stored in shoe boxes but had just as much appeal. Photographically, I first saw the outside world in black and white and the pull of memory is very strong for me. I think about the feelings I had and the emotions I felt when I heard the stories that went along with each of the photographs.
I don’t remember exactly when colour entered the picture but it became my default for contemporary images. It is the way we actually see the world and rather than quietly seducing us, colour images can grab our attention simply because of the colour. In the book “Mary Ellen Mark: 25 Years” there is a quote that I just love “The difficulty with color is to go beyond the fact that it’s color–to have it be not just a colorful picture but really be a picture about something. It’s difficult. So often color gets caught up in color, and it becomes merely decorative. Some photographers use (it) brilliantly to make visual statements combining color and content; otherwise it is empty.” There are stories that are about colour and without it, they would not make much sense for example, images from Holi, the Indian Festival of Colour. There are also photographers who use colour as part of their signature work is like Eric Meola or Bryan Peterson.
There is an image that Bryan Peterson made where colour is part of the story, where combined with the other elements, it is part of the message. You can find the image here. I once asked Bryan, when all is said and done, which images he would like to be remembered for and this was one of them and then he shared why. He first saw this yellow wall with the sign and it was the colour that grabbed him. He photographed the wall but it was missing something. He waited until he saw a person approaching–going in the opposite direction–and that’s when he had made this image. For him, this image is autobiographical. Here is a sign pointing to Paris and who wouldn’t want to go to Paris? But here is a man clearly headed in the opposite direction. If you know anything about Bryan you will know that he is anything but conventional. He IS that man headed against the flow. Now imagine this image with any other colour wall, think of it in black and white and the message is lost.
I haven’t decided if black and white or colour is part of my signature and I won’t for a while yet. What I do know is that for me, a decision about making an image one or the other needs to be more than just taking an image and seeing what it looks like in black and white. I’m not saying I won’t explore or play with colour and black and white but I want to be more intentional with my choice. I’ve now set my PEN to shoot RAW and JPG with the latter in black and white to train my eye to look at a colour scene and think about it in black and white.
What about you? Do you have a preference for one or the other? Do you know why you make the choices that you do? Does it even matter to you at all?
I think it all depends on the image and what I am trying to say with it. Overall, I think with my style – if you can call it that – I tend to go with Mono. It just speaks to me more than color.
Now I’m curious. What does black and white say when it speaks to you?
This is provoking many thoughts for me… I’m in a time crunch right now, but I think I would like to respond to your questions in the near future.
See ya back on the mainland.
Can’t wait to catch up with you, Don. I certainly saw a lot of beautiful colour from your recent travels
No preference for me. I usually go with gut feelings. I have some images where color is the subject. There are those times when I know it will be black and white when I press the shutter and other times during the post processing.
Thanks for dropping by Monte. I am wondering, those times that you know it will be black and white, what gives you that certainty?
I remember when I was studying, we had a discussion about this very topic. Interestingly, our tutor talked about how many people read B&W imagery as being more ‘real’ or more closely representing ‘reality’ – even though we obviously live and experience the world in colour.
He asked us to think about imagery in newspapers, the use of B&W in documentary photography. That often, if a story is told in monochrome, then it has an extra perceived layer of authenticity and truth.
I imagine that this way of reading and feeling photographs is very bound up in the tradition and history of photography. A lot like you describe the feelings you had with your dad’s photographs, many of us (of a certain age!), were exposed to shoeboxes of B&W images from our parents and grandparents eras.
I wonder if this way of reading B&W imagery will shift or change, as the next generations grow up in this era of digital photography – consuming news stories in colour on the internet, changes in journalistic and documentary styles, and the explosion of images we see every day on sites like Facebook. It’s a profusion of colour photography all around us.
Really interesting thoughts Cathy, especially whether or not the new generation will be more drawn to colour. I hadn’t thought of that. If we juxtapose how much the media has changed, I wonder if that gives black and white even more “authenticity and truth”. Just today I read an online newspaper article full of speculation and lies about where I work and it made me angry. I couldn’t believe that newspapers would represent the opinions as facts. Sorry it’s a bit of a tangent!
BTW – I love that second image with the different tights. Perfect use of B&W for the subject – in my little opinion!
Thanks…the more I look at the second image, the more I like that I used B&W because of what it says. Colour would have made it unintelligible. Interesting though that some people are expressing more favour for the colour image…
I do very little in B&W – mostly colour. There are times when I want to push the patterns or when the tones are close enough to B&W anyway that retaining the colour will not make any real difference. But for me colour IS part of the story. People choose colours in clothes and hair, buildings or houses are painted deliberately, gardens are often constructed with certain colour groupings in mind. Colour is part of the way we make statements or expressions to the world. Colours move and impact on us, have meaning and create emotions. To REGULARLY remove the colour from the world, for me, loses these expressions of humanity and emotions.
The 2nd image is fun because of the contrasts of the girls’ tights with the ‘boring’ trousers, but for me the 1st image conveys the energy, liveliness and personality of the wearer.
I think a signature would need room for both.
I agree with what you’re saying Deborah, and boy do I love colour! But I think there is a resonance with B&W imagery that many people feel – and I think that resonance is because of the feeling that it imparts to the viewer. A feeling of storytelling, a certain emotion, a version of reality.
And it’s a sort of paradox, isn’t it? An image rendered in monochrome can feel more ‘real’, more authentic. But why is that, when we live our lives in colour?
I don’t think it’s simply because removing colour from the image helps to highlight other elements (although that is certainly a key ingredient to making a good B&W image). I think it’s more bound up in our collective reading of photographic imagery.
As photography changes, I wonder if the echoes and voices that many people experience from B&W will change. Not better. Not worse. Just different. And always fascinating!
Such great comments and a very well-articulated case for colour, Deborah. One of the best I’ve read actually. Thank you. I am pondering your statement that to regularly remove colour means a loss of emotion and humanity. My mentor has often commented that no matter how well-composed the compositions are and how Cartier-Bresson was able to capture the decisive moment, for him, his images are cold. I wonder if being in black and white has something to do with it.
Then I think about David Allan Harvey’s work especially his images about Spanish cultures. I have his book “Divided Soul” and if there was ever a case of “colour IS the story”, this work screams it. The images and stories come alive and they just wouldn’t have that soul without colour. If you have a chance to look at the book, I think you’d like it.
love these images, Sabrina, the color choice really suits them. Love the contrast.:)
I’ve been thinking about shooting in B&W for awhile, (thinking it might help with seeing light and shadow). I really like your idea of creating color+B&W of each image. That could be so revealing. Can’t wait to learn more about what you learn from that!
LOL…I have a feeling this one is going to take me a while to figure out Anita so I hope you stick around
As so often happens here, this post has evolved into a fascinating discussion.:)
When I saw your photos, Sabrina, the first one made me smile. I thought, “that’s a riot of color.” It reminded me of the way our daughter used to combine colors when she was 3 years old and could dress herself, -and the complete and unrestrained joy she took in doing so.
Then when I looked at the B&W image, it called my attention to the lines and contrast. I spent more time studying it.
After reading the comments and your responses, I thought about Steve McCurry’s Afghan girl. Would that image have spoken so powerfully in B&W? Instinctively I don’t think it would have, but I couldn’t exactly tell you why I think that.
I spent some time this summer reading Galen Rowell’s books and looking through his images. I’ve tried envisioning his images, or one of his books, in B&W -it’s hard to do.
I’ve also thought about differences between old B&W movies and the newer colorized versions.
Our daughter is taking guitar lessons from a somewhat eccentric teacher. He told her that making music is adding emotion to a mathematical equation.
I find it fascinating to think that color might add emotion to a photo. I find it equally fascinating that you and Charlene respect photographers who make images in B&W. Could the B&W images themselves command respect?
I’ve been reading David duChemin’s latest book “Photographically Speaking” where he talks about adding or subtracting elements as layers of impact in a photograph. Now I wonder:
Could adding color be a layer that says, “I know what emotion I want you to feel about this”..? Could it literally color the emotions of the viewer?
Then, is choosing B&W a way of asking the viewer to add the emotion? ..a way of saying “I want YOU to get emotional about this.” -or maybe it’s a way of shooting without emotion, (journalistically, without added bias). Perhaps some photographers instinctively understand how to do this.
As I think about all of this, I keep hearing Ray say “intention matters.”:)
Such a thought-provoking conversation.:) I hope to hear more about this, Sabrina.
I think for me Anita, good B&W images definitely command respect because I struggle plenty to make them myself. When I say good I mean: evocative, emotionally and intellectually, stellar use of light and shadow and tones in between, and in the days of digital, a good b&w conversion.
For me making black and white images are a deliberate decision to go and produce black and white. It isn’t a case of arbitrary conversion to see whether the picture looks better in colour or monochrome (although that’s a bonus i suppose). I don’t shoot in the same way that i would with colour. I look for different things, compose differently, consider light differently, no matter what it is I’m shooting – this is way outside my comfort zone though, so when I do decide to do a black and white piece, it takes me longer to get anything done, largely because I have to think about the technicalities rather than rely on reflex.
It’s often been said that while painting is the art of inclusion, photography is the art of exclusion. Going along those lines, I guess the choice between colour and black and white could be eliminating, or at least, narrowing focus on what we want the viewer to experience primarily? Thoughts?
Galen Rowell drew analogies between photography and music. I like that you used the words “compose” and “experience.” It makes me think of a composer. How does a composer choose the key to write a song in? I suppose there’s a certain amount of “it just feels right” involved. But now I’m curious. What drives your decision to make a B&W image? Is it simply a decision ..something you set out to do? Does it depend on the ingredients you have to work with? Is it about a feeling you want to convey?
I get a sense that you might take B&W more seriously. If that’s true, do you think there’s an implied seriousness to B&W photos? [..that photographers like Elliott Erwitt take advantage of to deliver something unexpected?]
Love your idea of narrowing the focus.:) With that in mind, -how does the decision to eliminate color change the viewer experience? Is it primarily a signal? [signifying 'this is important,' or 'let's get down to business and not be distracted by color?']
Your questions caught me completely by surprise Anita. So I had a good long think about this one, and yes, i do take black and whites more seriously. My decisions to do black and whites generally come down to a gut feel, but I’ve tried to pick it apart and this is what I came with:
It all comes down to the locus of experience. Personally, i find that colour makes me experience photos on a me-first level. I look at the eyes of Afghan Girl contrasted with the stark background and that deep red head covering and my reactions are drawn from the impact that the colour and contrast has on me when put together in a photo.
Black and white on the other hand, shifts my attention to (wanting, at least, to) experiencing the moment from the subject’s pov. When I flip through Men At Sea, say, at this image here: http://www.perspektivet.no/wp-content/themes/perspektivet/backgrounds/PAR96267(2).jpg
my focus is shifted away from my own pleasure to think about the subjects in the photo – what they’re experiencing in the moment, the context, what the message is etc.
If I was going to shoot black and white, I’d be serious about forcing the viewer to remove themselves away from what they feel about the shot, to think about what the shot is trying to say. When I shoot colour, I want the viewer to experience the scale, the movement, the moment, for themselves.
This goes back to what Cathy saying about “An image rendered in monochrome can feel more ‘real’, more authentic…I think it’s more bound up in our collective reading of photographic imagery.”
Not sure if I’m making a lot of sense here…
Cathy said it all, and way more, for me. Dammit Cathy, you’re too sharp!
I have a deep respect for photographers who see/shoot in black and white. For me, it’s a conscious decision and action to shoot black and white images, because I see, and compose, for colour. I find the changes in colour of anything/-one depending on light, location, geography, time of day, constantly fascinating, and I think I will for the rest of my life. The flexibility in thinking, reflex and reaction to shooting with and without colour is not something that comes to me naturally. I practice, just to see how far I can take it, but it’s something I find difficult to do at this stage.
That second image with the stockings made me smile. Good fun, and so many possible stories behind it.
I’m with you there Charlene in terms of respecting photographers who see and photograph in black and white. I wish I had explored that a little more with Larry. Interesting to hear your thoughts about your own approach because I’ve always liked your black and white images. Now knowing that it doesn’t come naturally to you gives me a deeper appreciation for your work!
A great post again Sabrina, thanks, very insightful and some nice questions to ponder. I lurrve BW and duotone photography….done right….but then I also lurve colours done right. I do not really subscribe to the popular theory of removing colour like you say, I think they are just two totally different way of seeing and working and two different “tools” (for lack of better word) and done right they’re both awesome.
Personally, I am a colour shooter. I see colours, I see the contrast in colours, the play, the subtle nuances and the very important mood of colours. Colours just speak to me so that’s what I see and that’s what I have chosen to capture. Sometimes, an image will work much better in bw, but I just feel, like in my book, to have 4-5 images out of 60 in BW is not going to work. It’s either or. So I have chosen for now to be a colour shooter.
I am thinking very much however of giving myself some BW assignments and shoot a story in BW, to experiment –trouble is, I see the colour raw first thing in Lightroom and then I am drawn to the colours. Perhaps set my camera to BW jpeg, and do an import preset that’ll convert the RAWs straight to BW before I see them would be an idea!
If it’s a question, then I think my answer is not so much an ‘either/or’, but an ‘and’. Would we even be asking if film hadn’t forced us to chose beforehand? Each time I develop an image, whether it’s darkroom or digitally, it comes out differently, because I see differently and I feel differently. It’s not that I don’t know at the time of capture, that I lack clarity or vision, maybe I’m just too much of a chameleon, but I like that flexibility. And I’ve had a few images where I switched back and forth between color, B/W and duotones. Different prints at different times. Am I committing blasphemy?
I don’t think so… it’s just how each of us works. All different.
“Would we even be asking if film hadn’t forced us to chose beforehand?”
Really good question!
Well, there is “mono” as referred by the digital shooters and there are Black & White negatives.
But I will address the difference between color and B&W; it sometimes becomes more personal since we can only address the form and tone of an image when B&Wand not be distracted by Medusa herself, color.
There is nothing more clitche than a crisp, in focus color image. Not that I don’t strive for that on a regular basis! However, the less one needs color, focus and “sharpness” to make a point, the better, I feel is the over-all photograph. Usually.
When I shoot digitally, I typically make a B&W and sepia conversion of my portraits. Within the same session, sepia make “work” on one image and B&W better on another. And, for what ever reason, color sometimes appears best to convey the picture of the 3.
I find this fascinating…also, some subjects appear to accept sepia better than b&w, some better with B&W over sepia, over all. I don’t fight it – I just sit back and observe.
For those of you who never shot real B&W film, do yourself a favor and shoot some street or formal portrait session with the offerings from Ilford, Kodak, & Fuji. Spend a little time and money in your craft and learn what real B&W photography is – away from the comfort and safety of Photoshop…:)