Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Black and White is Back...



Black-and-white is back because it's part of the power of photography.

Black-and-white is back in print advertising. In today's saturated-color manipulated-image world, black-and-white feels real. To many, it looks fresh.

Black-and-white is back because brides want to see black-and-white photos in their wedding albums.

It is crisp and clean with its patterns, shapes and lines to intrigue our minds. Black and white photography is honest. No flashy punched up colors to get in the way. It's art, plain and simple. From the deep dark richest blacks to the crisp clean clear whites, it tells a story. With its gentle gradations of gray, it holds our attention and makes us want to see beyond the surface.

This is the way photography was meant to be before color took over and clouded our vision of what a great print should look like. Now we often look at a photo as an exact rendition of a scene and that is all. "Oh look, my couch is green, what a lovely shade of green." Black and white photography is different. It is about textures and emotions, light and the absence of light.

It's been said that there is something sexy about black and white photography that you just can't get from color. I think it's true. Once you remove the color, it is like stripping a scene down to the bare bones removing the layers and leaving the form. You do not have to be an expert photographer to try black and white photography; after all, it was black and white film that not so many years ago captured the memories of many generations.

I hope you enjoy all of my recent black and white photography shown above.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

David

6 comments:

Laurie said...

All of these B&W's are so intriguing. The portraits are amazing, you captured their souls! I love them all!! They really show your artistic talents so well!

Hugs,
Laurie

Unknown said...

I enjoyed your black and white series david...
i agree with you about the images being crisp and clean...
i also believe that with a great black and white photograph you can actually see every color...
that is what i strive for in every black and white i shoot and hope that when i share them the viewer sees the same thing i did...

G E O R G E C. M A R T I N S said...

Hi David

Fantistic photos in B&W...beautiful...
When I was younger I used to paint allways in B&W, which intriged my parents. So, they took me to a phsycologist because they thought that I had some kinda of problem...what they didn't see was the B&W also is beautiful and magic....

love them all...

regards
George WC

José Carrilho (Go Detail) said...

Hi David,

I do like B&W photography, be it pure or using filters to give it a slight tone.
Once I saw a B&W photo of a seascape using an orange filter. It was awsome.
And those classic B&W movies ?
Great hein ?
And of course that as an artist, I trully enjoy works done with graphite and charcoal, for they possess great strenght.

Take care,

José

P.S. when are you going to add a "follow this blog" gadget ?

Diana Moses Botkin said...

Wow, David, these are fantastic! I'm so intrigued and am wondering about the story behind the setting and portraits.

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

lots of wonderful tips here on taking good photos. Very nice.