May 20
Stillness…
Tanya Luca
Jul 2, 2025
René Burri, Garden Restaurant near Teheran, Iran, 1960
“If you are truly successful in capturing the pulse of life, then you can speak of a good photograph.” – René Burri
Aug 13
ministry of silly walks
ministry of silly walks, monty python's flying circus 1970
🦖🦖🦖🦖
May 6, 2025
An interview by Martin Kaninsky.
Malparaíso rewrites reality with impulse, poetry, and pain. This is not a book about one place or one story. It’s a journey across deserts,
Aug 17, 2024
waves
ph. yuliya dudchenko
Sep 2, 2021
Closer (2004)
Apr 17, 2022
"Why Is This Black and White?" In Case This Was A Serious Question...
Among the many photos I have posted here, there is an image taken at a demonstration in 1992. It's a good picture, but hardly a great one, and yet it has gathered more notes than nearly all of my other photos. The most curious thing about this photo, however, is not its popularity. The most curious thing is that one peculiar remark that has been made by several different people:
"This was only 30 years ago! What was the point of making it black and white?"
My first reaction was annoyance at what seemed like a deliberately snide remark. It was only after the same comment had been made several times that I realized: They genuinely don't know. I also realized that for anyone who is not a photographer or a journalist, there's no reason that they should know. In fact, it's a reasonable question.
So, for anyone who is genuinely curious, there are several reasons the photo is black and white.
First, let's start with a correction: This photo was not converted to black and white. It was shot in black and white, using Ilford HP5+ 35mm film. At the time, most newspapers used color sparingly, and the majority of the photos were black and white. In the early 1990s, the few available digital cameras were expensive and their images were vastly inferior to film. Photojournalists nearly always carried at least two camera bodies, and it was common practice to load one body with color slide film, and another with black-and-white print film.
Setting aside the practical reasons for using black and white film, there are also artistic reasons why a photographer might choose black and white over color. The simple fact that color film is available does not mean every photo should be shot in color. In compositions which emphasize geometric or graphic elements, the presence of color can distract from the photo's most important aspects.
Look at the work of photographers like Sebastião Salgado, Diane Arbus or Ansel Adams. Color is not only unneeded, it would be detrimental. Color — and the lack of it — influences the mood of a photo, and greatly affects our perception of it. When Steven Spielberg shot Schindler's List in 1993, he chose to shoot in black and white. Paradoxically, black and white adds to the realism of the film: Documentaries on the Holocaust, Spielberg notes, are "all shot in black and white. That's my only reference point. I wanted it to feel real."
Different generations, however, have different reference points, and that distinction can clearly be seen in the way older and younger viewers regard black and white photos. For older generations, black and white images invoke news. Younger generations, however, lack the reference point of daily newspapers and weekly newsmagazines filled with black and white photos. For them, a black and white photo of a woman at a demonstration is hardly different from a picture of Charlie Chaplin dressed as the Little Tramp. It's not news, it's just old-timey.
Viewers with a deep interest in photography will recognize the merits of black and white over color (or vice versa) regardless of their age. Viewers who lack that interest, however, probably won't, and we shouldn't expect them to.
