I was asked recently why I have both black and white and color images in my portfolio. Finding it a strange question, I asked what they meant. Their thinking was there were “black and white” photographers (somehow equated to “old school”) and color photographers (somehow associated with “digital photography”), and ne’er the twain shall meet. This view got me thinking about what non-photographers think photography is and why I choose to reproduce some images in black and white, others in color, and a few in both.
The expression of artistic vision has always been dependent on the materials used to create that vision, whether it be paint, clay, textiles, movement, voice, or in the case of photography, the recording of light. These materials limit the form of communication to what is possible with the material used. It influences the arrangement of the various aspects the art form can take. These limitations influence the perception a viewer has regarding the art itself. Some may think the perception of the viewer is inconsequential, for the artist is the one communicating, but I strongly disagree. Communication cannot happen without a transmitter and a receiver. In most cases, the receivers, the viewers of art, are not artists themselves. Their interpretation is what will most probably be communicated now and in the future, so their view is relevant. The question of “why have both black and white and color images” isn't about men and why I create these images. It's about the viewer, and their interpretations of what photography is. So why do I share both, and what does that mean? For those that have read this blog, you know at one time I created black and white images exclusively. I believed (wrongly) that black and white was somehow “art”, while color was “commercial”, and not worth my time. Oh, the hubris of young age! As through a glass darkly, photography is always an interpretation of the reality around us. Even those images that are so abstract as to be totally disconnected from reality, are, in essence, nothing but images of real things, even if those things are light and shadow. Unlike paint, which is placed on a blank canvas to create an image from nothing, photography is constrained by the reality that it interprets. This aspect, so unique to photography, leads to the mistaken belief that photography is “real”, while other art forms are not. Photography is, for the most part, an interpretation of the real world based on capturing the light and shadow our eyes interpret as reality. In my view, this is what makes photography very different from other art forms. We are always capturing, in real time, what is happening around us. And yet, if that is all we did as photographers, everything would look like a drivers license headshot. That is clearly not the case, so what’s happening? Photography uses the same elements other media uses to communicate, namely, line, shape, form, texture, color. Each artist interprets the world using these elements in different combinations, creating a piece that communicates some aspect of the world. When we choose to interpret a reality in color or black and white, we are emphasizing different elements in varying degrees. One image may be strongest in color, with less emphasis on the other elements, while another’s strength is its texture or form more than its color. Which is best? Neither. The color image is strong because of its color. The black and white image is strong because of its use of line, shape, form and texture. When I choose color over black and white, I am purposefully emphasizing that aspect of the image that is strongest, and consequently, creating an interpretation of reality that emphasizes color. That is why some images are best interpreted one way over another, either in color or black and white. And yet, there are a few images which stand upon the strengths of both interpretations. Their meaning changes because of these aspects, but the image itself stays strong and the message it communicates can be a powerful one. Color photography is no more “digital” or “commercial” than black and white photography is “old school” or “art”. They are both aspects of a medium used to interpret the world in different ways. Both have strengths and weaknesses unique to each other, and it's these strength and weaknesses that, if put to good use, create images that a viewer can appreciate and communicate with.
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