For all the beauty of the colors and hues . . .

. . . that surround us in our daily lives -- very often completely unnoticed -- they sometimes have a way of obscuring the very essence of the world around us. A soft pink handgun seems somehow considerably less lethal than it really is, and a baby blue atom bomb would look a lot like a giant Easter egg. But, if you were to see either of them in black and white, their deadliness would suddenly become much more real.

And that's the beauty of black and white photography; it has a way of distilling the subject down to its bare essence, be it a landscape, a dog, or a human being. Color photography obviously has its merits, and can often capture that essence in skilled hands. But when you see things in monochrome, you're seeing it in an elemental state with no deceptively mitigating tincture to mask its true underlying character.

As a photographer, if I had to pick a favorite genre to work in, it would have to be black and white portraiture. I love the starkness with which it portrays people and environments in a jolting, hyper-realistic way that lingers in the mind long after the image falls from view.

And, with that in mind, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites in another photography-related post. Hit the jump for a few more from my collection.

All of these images were originally shot in color, but one of the many great things about the advent of digital photography is the flexibility it gives you. You don't have to worry about what kind of film you have loaded into your camera, so you can just go ahead and compose your shots with a black and white eye in a Kodachrome world. You need more light sensitivity? Well, just hit a button, turn a dial and you've got it. No more rummaging through your gear bag looking for a roll of Tri-X 400 that may or may not be there when you really need it.

I really appreciated all the kind words on my nature photography post from yesterday, so I figured I'd hawk my black and white work today, and look forward to reading your comments.

posted by Damn Dirty RINO at 05:04 PM

| Access Comments