"....There’s a simplicity to black and white photography that makes it one of the hardest or easiest spaces to explore visual storytelling. The removal of colour adds a layer of abstraction that can invite more scrutiny of an image’s context. Or, it can act as a safety blanket for the many men who like to cosplay as photography experts on the internet."
- Gajan Balan, from his review of the Leica M11 Monochrom.
Balan is a Leica "Ambassador" and talented video maker, story teller and, of course, photographer.
4 comments:
Skewering many, all at once.
Funny mostly because it's true.
Yes. It’s so hard to say that though isn’t it. For many it’s harder and for some it’s easier…. Is it the home of all those who can’t? It’s such a different way of seeing and making art. For me it’s best described as an obsession, whilst colour has become an avoidance in the digital age.
People used black and white in the film days because it was cheaper to buy, you didn't need to worry about how to match color to the existing illumination, and you could develop the film at home and then print it at home. That was most of the allure, not the "art" of it. The "art" part kicked in when digital operators wanted to differentiate themselves from other digital operators... The rest of the allure is for people who resist change because.... they like everything to stay...exactly the same. And they think what they learned back when black and white was, financially, their only choice, is now highly valuable information to endlessly share...
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