About Black and White Photography

 

I just watched a video on the wonderful channel "Photography Inspiration" about B&W photography. In short, they say that black and white is the true photography because it strips away one element of noise to get to the essence of the things. While I was watching it, I felt a strong disagreement with all these philosophical statements trying to convince me of something that I do not subscribe to at all.

In contrast to the video, I feel that color is the essence of things. Stripping it away, takes the very soul of them away. It leaves them empty, abstracted and flat shells. It reduces things to something the photographer wants me to see instead of something that speaks to me as it is. This may sound exaggerated to you. 

And yes, there those admirable portraits of celebrities in black and white, or backlit streets with silhouettes where color would only heckle the scene. But you would be surprised to compare these black and white portraits to the real person. Stripping the color of skin or the sun off makes the image something else, something the art of photography wants us to believe is the soul of the subject. It is not. Not for me.

Now, it is the right of an artist to show me an abstract version of reality. Artists always did that. Even color photography does it, as you see in the image above. It is an abstract view of that plant. But taking away the color just would go one step too far, at least for me.

There is also the problem of art for art's sake, "l'art pour l'art". We all see the early last century in black and white, because we have so few color photographs of that time, and none in good quality, especially with good colors. Consequently, every black and white picture looks special to us, something from the old times, something important to remember. It touches a memory

Think of a documentary photograph from a refugee camp. If you add color and take it in late sunlight, it might even look beautiful. So, you take it in black and white leaving only the contours of tents against dusty ground. But even black and white photographers have been accused of beautifying the suffering. If you want to avoid any trace of beauty, you can do that in color too. Many photographers did. You don't need black and white to strip away beauty and create the emotion you want. The bombed down Gaza strip is just as depressing in color as in black and white.

I might change my view on black and white some day. But to this day, color remains an essential part of my world. Maybe it is that reason that I always have failed in black and white photography.