Why black and white photographs are still relevant

 

In the history of photography the use of colour is relatively recent. Although the process for chemically recording colour was proposed by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1855 and the first colour photograph produced six years later for a lecture by Maxwell (by the photographer Thomas Sutton), it was not until the 1970's that colour film began to sell in industrial quantities. It had been more widely available since the 1930's but the colour was not great and the film was expensive and difficult to develop without the right facilities.

This means that when we scan photographic history most of the pictures we see are in black and white. Perhaps that begs the question is monochrome still relevant in these days of far more reliable colour films and digital cameras which can create great colour reproduction in comparison to early colour film? I'd argue that it is, as much as anything because it is available and can serve a purpose.  There are several reasons you might consider using mono in a photograph.

1)   Due to the history of photography black and white photographs appear more timeless. Removing colour makes it more difficult to date a photograph.

2)   A lack of colour exaggerates the drama of shadows and light immediately and photographs with dramatic lighting can draw the attention of the viewer more quickly.

3)   Fine art photography often uses black and white to distance the viewer from the reality of the subject. Because we see the world in colour the viewer has to stop and work out what they are seeing. This makes the viewer pause and look more closely, however briefly, at the picture. As Joel Sternfeld said, "Black and White is abstract; colour is not. Looking at a black and white photograph you are already looking at a strange world."

4)   Many photographers would say that portraiture is more stark and exacting in black and white and that removing the colour allows an audience to see the face and eyes without distraction. As photographer Ted Grant once said, "When you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes. When you photograph them in black and white you photograph their souls."

So it is a good rule of thumb when deciding whether to convert a picture to mono (given that all digital camers will shoot a file in colour even if it gives you the option to adjust the settings for black and white) to consider the light, form and texture of the picture. And don't forget to shoot in RAW if using the mono settings on your camera as the retention of the colour information in the file allows for considerable leeway in post processing...

Images with a wide range of tonal values tend to be better for black and white photographs and images are usually most successful when the tones contain both the blackest of blacks and the whitest of whites with a range of grays in between. 

The photograph below was taken as a challenge to make an image in which almost everything in it is white. This means that the only way to distinguish the content of the photograph is by shade and tone. You can decide for yourself whether that works. As the model had dark hair I even sourced a blonde wig to get as white as possible...