Why Black and White

Why Black and White….. Why only grays and contrast….and white and starkness and shadows and mist, or paleness ….Why Black and white?

Number one….it is the essence of who we are when all is taken away. Leave yourself one day and just scan the world as if in a BW film or image. See what comes thru. Raw emotion, if one looks at faces. Impact, if one looks at objects. Take a photo that has both, and you have eaten away at the outer layers of flesh and have forced the abstract upon all else.

That is what Black and White is…..purity. The bottom line, openness ….. vulnerability. Put color in, and your images become like a frolic down the park…. In fact I might argue, you have a circus with color. You have a playground or a game within an arena.

Number two….Black and white not only is abstractness in the end result, but Black and White makes you, you the photographer; think in a different manner. It isn’t just grabbing a gay shot and then taking it back to your computer to enhance the colors beyond fairness. No sir…..not in Black and White. But there you force yourself to look into a world not normal, for you in your eyes, your human lens…..only see colors. So by forcing yourself to think in Black and White, you begin to change your thought, your view…. You are not just looking at a shot, but you are looking at ‘behind the shot’. What makes that shot, a shot and not just a shot to shoot.

Number three….Sharpness. Yes, I hear you……Black and White can be pencil thin sharp too but no….don’t go down that road. Your eyes are not perfect so why should your images be. Look for blur and I don’t imply bokeh. Look for blur and roughness in the subject or focus. Look for blur because it is natural and abstract at the same time. A good Black and White photo is a stunning representation of reality when not in focus. It is your mind, deep in sleep, or perhaps even barely cognitive. It hasn’t quite put forth the image yet and yet, there it lays.

Number four….Black and White leaves an impression upon others…..a color image just plays with their minds,….teases them. It is peripheral in nature as it never quite is lasting. But now think, please think. Take some of the best photographs you have in your memory. Go back as far as you want….. They have left an impression upon you that nothing in color can equate with.

Number Five….black and white is challenging while color is just ….okay, fun photo….now what? Cameras are set up for color and people just think in color, so why not take it in color. But a challenge is black and white. It isn’t just the focal point you need to be aware of but the entire surroundings. What blends….? what doesn’t…. You should be able to walk down the streets and instinctively be aware of what will work and what won’t. You don’t need that with color. In fact instinct doesn’t even come into the picture in many cases. But with Black and White, without instinct….you have cheap shot….

So there….five reasons….there are more and yes, I will talk more to that. But here are five to represent or to ‘start’ the game….

What is Street Photography

It is here that I question what I see the masses doing. I don’t understand them as I see what is classified as street photography. It is more akin to just ‘passing people’ who are photographed on the sly by some digital tool ….snap, snap, snap and more snaps…How many snaps?

I am not stupid enough to think that there is only one definition (mine) for what street photography is….no, it goes way beyond that. It is the manner in which many photos are taken and what they represent, or better yet…what is not represented. The subject matter, the person, the action…etc…is all immaterial. With the advent of digital photography comes the ability to go beyond a 36 frame roll. It is all about pretending to take photo’s , although they are actually taken. It is all about finding the chance to walk across a crosswalk and snap away. Or, to snap someone from behind…..or to snap, snap, snap, snap…knowing that ‘one’ photo will come out looking good amongst the hundreds taken that day.

If you read my blogs…you know I am big into the analog feel. I want that feel for ‘me”….. I feel that my gear (Leica M3, Leica M6, Rioch GR111 and Leica X2) best allow me to maintain an analog feel even though some of those are digital. For instance, the Ricoh and X2 are digital, but by the time I take one shot, the subject in front of me has moved on. A single shot….a long lag time between when I take a shot, and when I can take another shot. That forces me to think like ‘film’…like analog. My Ricoh is pretty easy to manipulate since I do much ‘live’…. The X2 forces me to really think about my settings. It isn’t as forgiving as the Ricoh. In fact the X2 is more like the M6. I think about the F-stop, ….exposure, white balance, ISO. I turn the corner and I have to think again about the same, due to shadows or light or other.

I don’t just roam to roam and shoot and shoot. I have forced myself to slow down and take an image ‘one shot at a time’ so I have to wait sometimes to set up my shot. Today, I waited a good 30 minutes in one place as the ‘right’ situation developed. Today over the course of 4 hours, I took 13 difference scene shots. Now, some of those scenes, such as the one I just spoke of,…had more than one shot, while others (7 of the 13) had just one shot. So I end up with 7 scenes where I had the opportunity to have it right the first and last time. That is what I meant but slowing down….waiting for the shots.

But of ‘what shots’…’what scene’…. Well….does your shot have impact? Does it beg the viewer to ask questions? If so….that is solid street photography. It isn’t about shots in numbers, nor is it about getting cystal clear images. It isn’t about just a shot with no story behind it. It isn’t about random shots taken at hip, (to avoid detection) nor is it about having models working for me to pose in a certain way (the opposite of random hip-made shots). It is about finding that story, that ….question, that impact.