Maybe I was born in the wrong era or just simply get confused by color. Color confusion? Is that like the opposite of color blind where too many colors overwhelm you? Maybe. Sorry if you are colorblind.

I prefer black and white. Something about the simplicity of just tones and light with all distractions removed. Just the basics.

I can get lost staring at an image and find myself admiring one small area where the light falloff and mix of grain happens almost hypnotizing you.

Perfection.

Black and white erases time. It evens the field for a true visual experience. A modern day scene can transport you back and instantly feels nostalgic. Almost like a memory.

We see in color, so to see a scene in black and white, we interpret it in our minds different from individual to individual.

Art at its finest.

“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” – Elliott Erwitt

I love that quote from Elliot Erwitt. When you remove the color, it blurs the lines between and dream and reality. It takes the viewer into the frame and asks more questions than answers it provides.

The Americans : Robert Frank

You ever notice when you look at an old color photo of you as a kid, your first reaction is usually, “wow look at what they dressed us in.” Hopefully it was a neon color starter jacket or wind breaker outfit for extra cool points. If you removed the color in the photo, you are no longer distracted by the outdated palette and outfits and you notice other things.

Color is an indicator of time. The signature of color is subjective and changes from era to era. Look at your old color work and you will see what I am talking about. Colors change and your relationship to it changes.

The Americans is one of my favorite photo books. Some of the images feel like they could have been taken today or 100 years ago. It is timeless. Only when the images show technology or advertisements does it show the era it was captured. This is a great example of the power of the black and white photograph. You have the ability to transport the users through the medium.

So, where am I going with all of this? For one, it is kind of a love letter to black and white, but two, I realized I shoot black and white 90% of all of my work, but some how mainly display color work on my portfolio pages.

My manifest is to transition more to my true shooting style and preference. I will not be cutting color, but I do want to showcase more of the work I create and am drawn to which is primarily black and white. When it comes to my film photography, out of the hundreds of rolls I have shot the last few years, only a dozen are color rolls.

This is also in part to creating a consistent look. I admire the people who can create a cohesive body of work over the span of years shooting color, but this is something very difficult to do and something I cannot.

This will also be determined by what you photograph for. If you do client work, I understand that showcasing a full black and white body of work may not land you the needed call backs. For myself, I shoot for myself, therefore the work I showcase is for me and not to pay the bills. That gives the artist the creative expression to forge their own path.

So, here is to more grainy, timeless, contrasty, moody, grayscale, textured black and white images. Enjoy