Black and White Photography

You might be wondering why I am advocating black and white photography. Now, color film and processing is so much less expensive, and there are other arguments, like, many black and white photos seem depressing (I used to think this, but have now realized that this isn't the case!), or I see in color, I prefer color. Many new photographers dismiss black and white photography before even trying it. Black and white photography does have many advantages however, one of which is that it is very easy to develop film, and process prints in a home darkroom, however this is insignificant compared to the many other advantages of black and white photography.

I admittedly at first did not like the concept of black and white photography. I thought it was a waste, but I really wanted to take photography at summer school, and that was all that they offered. I went to summer school, and I have done black and white photography, and I have now come to the realization that black and white photography is what I would like to do most.

Perhaps the best argument for black and white photography is one that I picked up from a Sikel and Ebert tribute to photography, that our teacher had shown us. They had said, that quite simply, color is distracting. In fact, they are very correct. You spend time composing a shot, but all that composition is a waste, because all people see are your colors. If the picture is in black or white, they are free to see the elements. Something I like to believe in is that pepole are bored of colors; they see colors everyday. Black and white photography gives people a new look on a scene they may have seen many times, but the picture is more striking, because it represents more than just the accurate recordings of the colors of the scene. The photo istransformed into a symbol; it has become art!

Black and white is also best for dramatic effect. By eleiminating distraction, it calls the viewer to your scene. If you take a picture of an accident, in color film, people see the colors, in black and white they only see the scene. It has more punch, it conveys meaning. Also, black and white is far better to portray sensuousness. In that Siskel and Ebert bit they showed people dancing. In the black and white version, you actually saw them dancing, and payed attention to their movements. They then showed the same scene in color, and the viewer is immediately drawn to the colors of the dresses. I give Siskel and Ebert two thumbs up for opening my eyes, as well as those of many others I am sure! The main problem is, with black and white photography, you have to compose a scene with a purpose. You can't just go point and shoot. With color film, if your composition is poor, you can make up for it with pretty colors. This perhaps is the biggest fear of many photogrpahers. Their pictures don't seem very good in black and white, because they take shots without definite purpose, and they lack good compositional skills.

The long and short of it is, that color film is useful if you want to accurately record details of a scene or an animal. If, however, you want something more from your pictures, if you want to your photos to be works of art, if you want your photos to speak to people; USE BLACK AND WHITE!! Just remeber, if you want to show people what a red rose looks like take a roll of color film and take a picture. If you want to show people what a rose means to you, show its symbolic nature, there is only one option! (black and white!). Just remeber, everyone knows what a rose looks like, try to show something original!

Thank-you for your time

-Eric Danek