When I first started out in photography the choice of film for work was strictly black & white since most newspapers did not print color at that time. We've gone through full color papers and now digital photos, but sometimes I miss the simplicity of black & white photography. I have been reminded of this lately because of the old photos I have been posting on my photo blog www.southernvisions.net
Today I made some photos in Appalachia, Virginia at the Appalachia Food Bank which distributes commodities to the area's needy. I met a volunteer, William Tex Parsons, and shot several photos of him as he stood outside their building with baked items in a couple of grocery store shopping carts. Their building ( and old church building) had been damaged by fire the day before and they were making do with putting items outside. Mr. Parsons told me he was named after Hank Williams and Tex Ritter. But, I digress...back to the subject of this post. When I decided on the photo I liked best I looked at it as both a color and black & white photo. I decided I liked the black & white version better because it made me look at the content of the photo rather than be distracted by the bold colors. While I love color photos, I remember the most powerful documentary photos of Life and Look magazines as always being black & white images. Indeed, my favorite photos are the old black & white photos of my early days in photojournalism. I know I am prejudiced against color for some types of photography so I am posting the color version on this site and the black & white version at the www.southernvisions.net site so they can be evaluated in their own space. I would be curious to know your opinion.
Earl,
I agree with you....the B&W has more impact. Maybe its because I grew up with B&W photos and B&W television.
While color is beautiful, some things are more elegant in black & white....for example I don't think Ansel Adams works would have as much impact. Just my opinion.
Posted by: Tony Wilder | March 11, 2009 at 04:22 PM