Another Thought on B&W Photography

Assisted Living Move-In. Tucson, Arizona, 2015 (iPhone6)

“Black-and-white photography, in a way, is much more powerful than looking at color. I don’t care what anyone says. Color tries to take you on a much pleasanter journey. Black and white is bleak and stark and it brings reality into things, whereas color gives you opportunities to go off at different thoughts and places.”

—Don McCullin (b.1935), acclaimed British photojournalist and documentary photographer.

I tend to agree. I have always thought that color can sometimes be distracting, pulling the eye and mind away from the intended message of the image. The above photograph for example–would it have the same impact of loneliness, alienation, and finality…if it were in color?

Naturally, this is not always the case. In photography, the rules, the norms, the consensus, the expert opinion, the guidelines–whatever you want to call them–are all there to be bent and broken. The above quote is simply food for thought.

So, boldly go forth and do your own thing.