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 - make sure you enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
