Black and White Photography


I have noticed an odd occurrence with black and white photography. On some websites, it gets a lot of attention and on others, not much attention at all. Either people really like it, or they dismiss it out of hand. I have not been able to pinpoint the personality type that gravitates toward monochrome photography because it seems to be a totally random thing, however I suspect there may be more of an appreciation for, and like of black and white photography among those who have studied the history of photography, which may have given them more of an appreciation for it simply from higher exposure to it.

Black and white photography can very much alter your perception of an image. Your brain is forced to shift its attention from the colors of a scene to the shapes, lines and tonal values. Sometimes a photo with muddy, ugly or glaring colors that is blatantly unpleasant can be magically transformed into a beautiful study of lines, geometric shapes and negative space created by the blank spaces between objects when you see it in black and white.

I challenge you to take a color photograph, and try very hard to look at it, study it, while ignoring the color completely and just concentrate on the shapes. You can do it but it’s difficult. Then take the same photograph converted to black and white and study the shapes and their relationships to each other. You will probably find it’s much easier to do with the black and white version.
I would challenge those of you who are basically not “into” photography to look up a few classic photographers online and study their work just concentrating on lines, shapes and tonal values. Edward Steichen, Karl Blossfeldt, Imogen Cunningham, Ansel Adams, or a more modern master, like Clyde Butcher are just a few of the many wonderful masters who have a large body of work in black and white, and you may find yourself gravitating toward a particular person or style. The more you look, the more you may like it. Give it another try.


For more of my black and white images, please visit my gallery here:
https://mary-bedy.pixels.com/collections/black+and+white+photographs

Comments

  1. jim_hJuly 10, 2020 at 8:24 PM

    Nice B&Ws. IMHO, if color isn't adding something to a photo, it's subtracting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary BedyJuly 10, 2020 at 8:41 PM

      Thanks for stopping by, Jim. Yes! That's a good way to put it :-).

      Delete
    2. TatianaJuly 22, 2020 at 2:46 PM

      Lovely Black and White photograph!

      Delete
  2. Mary BedyJuly 22, 2020 at 3:31 PM

    Thanks, Tatiana!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Am An Artist

Image
Buttons and Stripes                                I am an artist Growing up, I wanted to be an artist. I think growing up a LOT of people want to be artists. Then reality sinks in and most of us go another route to be able to buy our groceries. In my case, I had a 42 year career managing a translation company, after having obtained a degree in Spanish with a minor in French. That was my vocation. A Feather on the Beach 091523 Along the way, I did take time to paint in oil, and I took some adult education classes like painting, life drawing, and art history at the local community college. That kind of slowed way down when the chosen vocation demanded more and more of my time while also raising a family. That said, I am an artist. I have always been an artist. I never made a living at it, and until about 15 years ago, I never made any money at it either, but I am an artist.                              I, and many of my fellow artists have been frowned upon, treated poorly and even beli
Read more

ESCAPE

Image
In this strange time we are experiencing right now, where it’s really not a good idea to engage with a lot of strangers outside your family, there are not that many places you can go to relax. Restaurants, libraries, bookstores and other locations that are frequented by a lot of people are generally not a good idea for a while longer as of this writing on July 1, 2020. But there are a few places one can go and at least have a change of scenery from the walls of your home, where most of us have spent the bulk of the last few months. For me, this is either down at the boardwalk along the Saint Clair river, where it’s easy to practice social distancing, or it’s the local hiking trail where you might encounter two or three people out for a walk or the occasional cyclist. I always take my camera with me even if I’m just mostly going to walk or relax on one of the benches along the trail. It’s a small hiking trail, but it’s well maintained and there are several trees along the path that I
Read more

The Industrial Look

Image
I like the industrial look. I like the shapes and forms of metallic objects created for industrial purposes even though they were not created to be “art” but were usually only created to be functional.   If you look up at massive electrical towers, there are some interesting shapes to be had. The outline of factory stacks can be interesting, old and sometimes decorative sewer grates are works of art unto themselves. As much as I love the local hiking trail, which I have visited literally hundreds of times in all weather conditions and seasons, and as beautiful as nature images are, there is also a place for the man-made, symmetrical, purposeful item when viewed for more than just its function.   When you look at a piece of machinery, think about what the inventor was thinking when he came up with that particular piece of equipment. Was he or she actually thinking just about function? Or was there also some thought to form involved in its creation? Is this thing painted a certain color?
Read more