Apart that I`m getting a little obsessed with black and white photography, I always asked myself just what is it that makes black and white photography so different, so attractive and sublime.
Post by Darren Rowse
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Versatility
It’s a format that suits almost any type of photography: portraits, landscapes, urban landscapes, architecture. Not only that, it’s a medium that adapts really well to all lighting situations. Whereas color photography often works best on sunny days or in brightly lit studios – low light just makes a black and white image moody.
No distractions
Colors can be terribly distracting in some images and can take the focus away from your subject. Especially in portrait work, taking the color out of an image lets the subjects speak for themselves. Its raw, it’s stripped back, it’s honest and it allows you to show the true person.
Subtlety of Tones
In a world that often boasts about how many millions of colors a TV or monitor is able to produce – in ‘mono’ there is almost a similar variety of what can be achieved in a photo. Black and white sounds so boring – but the fact is that there are so many shades in between – A truly challenge of bringing them all out in an image..
Variety
The creative process with black and white images is so artistic. It’s like molding clay – you can shape it into a myriad of shapes. Black and white images can be strong, high contrast and powerful – or they can be so soft, gentle and subtle.
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Of course the black and white vs color debate is a very personal one. Some prefer shooting mono. Others prefer the vibrancy of color photography.
These are only a few of the pictures, I`ve been taken lately.
