Black and White Photographers

Early black and white photographers were painters who made a living out of doing portraits. To these painters, photography was a new technique where they could re-use their skills in composing an image.  For a long time cameras were held on a tripod and the black and white photographers would precisely frame the picture even though it was showing upside down.  

Would it be that the lack of color forces the mind to appreciate a good composition instead? 

The only place in our world where vision occurs in black and white is at night or in poorly lit conditions, such as a cave. Therefore, mentally, black and white may be associated with unease or fear. 

Black and white photographers try to give us an image with a unique level of abstraction. Your eye never operates independently of your mind. A smooth graduation in the levels of grey is quite suggestive in expressing transition, volume, or even temperature. In the days of chemical darkrooms, the black and white photographer would mask some parts of the negative to give more time for some rich scales of shades to appear in the highlighted areas. 

A black and white photographer gives a black and white picture more stature than the same image would have in color. Yet again, the portrait of a child is better in color unless your focus is on the plight of an orphan, the poor, or the sick. A black and white portrait of a woman forces you to concentrate on her stare, as the makeup has a lesser impact. Looking into someone's eyes is a gateway into looking into their soul. Black and white photographers help grasp this uncanny effect. 

The removal of color in landscape and still-life has a dramatic impact. The canopy of trees will quickly become a silhouette. A grey sky will imply rain or thunderstorm, even if the image was taken on a bright, sunny day. Still, objects contend with one another with shapes and beams of light. 

Photography has the ability to suspend life out of time, but this is even truer in black and white.  Only recently has newspapers been printed in color. Black and white photographers help us capture many memories and keep them etched in our minds. 

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