This is a question i have been pondering in my head for a little while. I am a photographer who shoots and sells black and white photographs. I have found over the years that there seems to be an age limit to loving black and white photography. Whenever I show my work I seem to be able to predict what someone will think of it by their age. If they are over 50 they will say, "That's great, imagine what it would look like if it was in color." If they are younger they will say, "What a wonderful picture, I love how black and white photography makes things look." I believe that this difference in opinion occurs because the older folks grew up with black and white photography, and thus it is nothing special to them; meanwhile, the younger folks see black and white as something special because color is all around them. give me your opinion if you would.

-- Josh Randall (joshrandal@excite.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

I tend to agree, though photographers will have more of an appreciation of good B&W because they usually understand what goes into its making. Ditto artists who understand abstraction. I've also come across people who don't pay much attention to photography per se, and actually asked me if a photo was B&W or color! It wasn't obvious to them, though there was nothing unusual about the photo. Nor were they color blind in any way. I don't tone, and I do wash my prints :-)

Lots of people prefer B&W photographs, but why don't we hear of any purists who eshew color TV?

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), January 03, 2000.

You know, I reckon I agree with you, although my daughter is takin' the color shots now, loves it, but it's probably because she's been saturated with all my black and white photos over the years.

-- John L.Blue (bluescreek@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000.

I've also observed that younger folks are more excited by b/w. Some of it is pure esthetics, some it is retro stylization, but mostly it's the old you-want-what-you-don't-have syndrome.

Many of these same people who ooh and aah over b/w prints are also driving gas-guzzling 8cyl trucks, smoking cigars, eating steaks, and drinking martinis. A couple of generations that barely remember big cars and rich meals from their childhood, who grew up driving little underpowered econoboxes and eating healthy diets, and now that they're successful, they feel entitled to a bit of the old conspicuous-consumption good life. The inherent glamour of b/w photography fits right in with this neo-ostantacious lifestyle, as does the novelty of making b/w images after a lifetime shooting color print film in boring black-plastic point&shoots. And lots of these folks are using Leicas, Contaxes, Hexars, Nikon 35Tis, etc. - expensive, sexy, metal, retro-look cameras.

Obviously, this is mostly a dumb generalization, but I think there's an element of truth to it. Still, am I the only one who sees the recent recanonization of Hugh Hefner as a little scary?!?

-- Michael Goldfarb (mgoldfar@mobius-inc.com), January 04, 2000.

I don't think that age has anything to do with it. Color photography has SO much information in the print, we are able to view without taxing our imagination..and that suits some people. B+W challenges the imagination, and some people are not up to that. TV is so devoid of any thought that we need the color just to help us imagine that we are seeing anything at all.

-- chuck k (kleesattel@webtv.com), January 04, 2000.

I have to take issue with you Chuck about your comment that color photography has "SO much information in the print." The only information that is usually visible is color in and of itself. If you are trying to capture texture or light, black and white photography is where all "information" lies. In my opinion it is like a apple pie. Color photography is like the crust. Everybody can see it, and it looks delicious. But B&W photography is the filling, where the substance of it all lies.

-- Josh Randall (joshrandal@excite.com), January 05, 2000.

What would apple pie be without the crust? What would crust be without the filling? Would ice cream work with either? "WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?"...Rodney King (hahahahaha)... t

-- tom meyer (twm@mindspring.com), January 05, 2000.

Gee, Guys and Gals I am new to this site / forum and am one of those older guys "66" and I happen to love B&W. I don't smoke cigars, I run 5 miles a day, eat right, and probably can arm wrestle any of you "puppies" to the ground. :-) Seriously I think people who don't understand B&W don't appreciate it. I am re-learning everything I use to know about it. I just recently, in "99", re-discovered B&W. It is a totally different media. Like the difference in painting with oils and finger painting.

-- Tommie Holt (credable@computron.net), January 06, 2000.

I'd just like to say I smoke a cigar every now and then, and also knock out a few beers, hell my son can already beat me at armwrestling, big deal, but black and white photography is great, just got another one published, how about that. Every picture you ever take is an original by you.

-- John L. Blue (bluescreek@hotmail.com), January 09, 2000.

Conrad wrote: "why don't we hear of any purists who eshew color TV?" I remember back in color TV's earlier days (mid 60's) there were people that scoffed at color TV. The screens were dimmer and less sharp. Color fidelity wasn't great. Alot of the popular shows seemed to switch to color after the quality of the writing went down. I had an uncle who got a piece of blue, orange and green (top to bottom) plastic and put it in front of his B&W TV. Also, there's been an outcry over the colorization of old B&W movies.

-- Tim Brown (brownt@ase.com), January 10, 2000.

maybe i am just an idiot, but i am a little confused by the last response. an explanation please.

-- Josh Randall (joshrandal@excite.com), January 11, 2000.

There are actually a few film-makers who (maybe for the same reason we prefer b&w) make b&w movies. When zapping through MTV during the commercials, I even get the impression that monochrome (though not always b&w) is experiencing a renaissance there. In Germany, monochrome prints have recently also become more popular in advertising. One might see a trend there.

One could give a couple of reasons why this group of persons or that prefers monochrome or colour, but each of the reasons might be turned around by 180 degrees. For example: "The older people don't like b&w because it was regarded as inferior by the time they started to shoot." Well, others find it has a beautiful nostalgic look, and it reminds them of their good old days.

I don't think liking b&w must necessarily have anything to do with understanding it, either. I have heard from a lot of people who looked at my prints, and who knew nothing beyond P&S photography "Wow, it's a great idea to shoot in b&w. Never considered it. I will try it." Maybe they just liked it because it was different from most of the stuff they are fed with every day, and because they thought that by shooting b&w their images would automatically improve (which means they liked just because they did NOT understand it).

Also, I don't think b&w is "better" or "worse" in anything. I read in a book a statement similar to the one above that b&w was better to render texture. An expert will bring it out in colour, too, but maybe b&w presents it in a somewhat less distracting form, because other information is ommitted. We (i.e. b&w photographers) sometimes even need the texture, because we omit colour information.

I do think that b&w can support the message of an image (as can colour in other fields), and it is definitely my thing. Hey, using (and preferring) b&w or colour is just like any other choice of tools in the arts, such as making pencil sketches or painting with tempera: You make the choice for whatever conscious or unconscious reasons, and often you tend to think that yours is the only real way.

-- Thomas Wollstein (thomas_wollstein@web.de), January 11, 2000.

b/w photos don't look like snapshot photography

A true photography professional can do outstanding work in either black and white or color. However, amateur snapshot photography is al most always done in color. Although I love photography, I must admit that I've never really enjoyed looking at the generic family snapshots (birthdays, holidays, vacation tourist traps, family gatherings.) Such photographs serve to help the person remember events from their own life rather than to share good photography with others. I'll be the first to admit that using black and white film does not cause a person's photography ability to improve at all. However, black and white photos don't *look like* generic snapshots. And photographers who go to the trouble of seeking out black and white are usually seeking to do something other than generic snapshots. Shooting in black and white doesn't make you a better photographer, but it's a good tool to break out of the snapshot mentality.

-- Tim Casady (guru@enteract.com), January 23, 2000.