Black & White vs. Color

I've often been asked whether I have a preference between black & white or color? My simple answer is that I like both and consider them equally valuable and useful.

Depends on what I'm going for.

Black & white allows us, the viewer, to see lines, forms, textures and patterns without too much emotion getting in the way. The minute color comes into play there's a trigger that goes off in most people's brains that stimulates emotion or feeling. It's commonly understood that a warm-toned picture with reds, yellows and oranges for example, pulls a viewer in faster and more effectively than a cooler-toned image. This is because in our brains, red is associated with fire and therefore warmth. There's more to it than that, but that's the jist of it.

On the other hand, B&W allows us to see form, free mostly from the effects of emotion that come into play with color. So when I'm photographing a body with B&W I'm creating an image that will usually allow more attention to be focused on form, texture, lines and the interplay between shadow and light. Which is sometimes important to me and sometimes not.

One is not better than the other.

Just different.

A smiling picture of a woman looking right into the camera and therefore into my eyes, is communicating something to me - most probably happiness. In this case I'm more likely to want to feel the emotional effects that her skin and hair color will trigger in me than not. It gives her more depth and more warmth.

But if it's the effects of the lines of her hair sweeping across her face and the pattern of her dress that I'm most interested in seeing, then B&W is the better choice because it frees at least a little part of my brain up to focus on that.

Are we going on an aesthetic ride with this picture or are we going on an emotional one? What would I like my viewers to be experiencing with it? Do I want you to feel something more human and emotional for her or do I just want you to see those beautiful wisps of hair blowing across her face?

Am I after form and texture or are am I after feeling and emotion?

Important questions that I often ask myself when creating an image because the question is answered by my choice of B&W or color film.

Why don't I just shoot everything in color and then convert to B&W if I want to later? The fact is, color film doesn't carry the inherent capacity for contrast and grain structure that B&W does and I've never yet been satisfied with a conversion. There are many other factors involved in the difference between the two which all add up. So if it's B&W I want I shoot B&W and if it's color I want I shoot color. And sometimes I can't decide which way to go so I shoot them both side by side and decide later.

And yes, I do sometimes sepia tone my black & white images or add warm tones to them in Photoshop, as in the picture to your right. This maintains (for me anyway) most of the integrity of a black & white image while adding a little "drawing you in" effect.

I've created beautiful images of naked bodies with color and beautiful images of naked bodies with B&W. When I use color the skin tones are critically important to me. There's nothing quite as unattractive as a greenish skin tone. When I use B&W the contrast of the varying shades of grey all the way from black to white are very important to me. The relationship between a shadowed area of the body and a lighter area area is where it all happens. Do I want anything visible in the shadow or do I want it to go deep into black so that I can create a heightened sense of drama and strengthen the curving lines?

What am I after here? Where am I going with this?

Although most people will never stop to think about what effect a B&W or a color image is having on them, they will on an unconscious level be affected by my choice.

The warmth of a skin tone in an image can have a profound effect on a viewer while a B&W image in and of itself can allow us to see things perhaps a little more objectively and be more aware of what's going on with regards to form, lines, texture and light.

I like both. I use both and if push came to shove and you forced me to choose I'd be totally at a loss. It's like being asked to choose which one of your children you'd be willing to give up.

yeh, it's like that