Color vs Black and White, the eternal debate

[Paul Howell]

No he said that if he sees a photograph that looks exactly like the reality is useless to him. He had a very specfic criteria of transformation.
He did not hold his color photography of great value. He called his color camera his Schmulz toy camera. I also don't think of his color photographs as particularly good

So we need to judge photography by the narrow parameters as set by Winogrand?

 

[nikos79]

So we need to judge photography by the narrow parameters as set by Winogrand?

No of course not.
We judge them by our own criteria (I guess)
I like Winogrand's parameters though. They set some very interesting standards.
Winogrand was one of the first photographers of his generation to acknowledge Atget or Arbus.
Through his brutal and simplistic way I find the stuff he said about photography the most insightful ever said together with HCB

 

[nikos79]

Still a huge "if".

Be careful not always taking photographers' statements at face value. Especially Winogrand's. He was an expert at irony and self-depreciation, not to forget that some of his statements — "There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described" — have that typical Yogi-Berra-ish ring that he obviously enjoyed using, half seriously, half to confound people. He seemed to have had quite a mischievous sense of humour.

So True

What's interesting with Winogrand's colour experiments is, as the editors of the recent book Winogrand: Color point out, that it forced him to work differently, that is, much slower due to the lower ISO that he got from black and white film. The results still bear Winogrand's curiosity about American people and American culture, but with something a bit more deliberate in them.

Very interesting never thought of it.

I like his colour photographs. They show possibilities, what could have been. And they are much better than a lot of his later, California photographs. He obviously had a sense of the role of colour in the American psyche, but expressed in a very different way than a William Eggleston or a Saul Leiter, to name two other great colour photographers.

Damn how did I forget those two?

 

[Vaughn]

I have printed some color a couple decades ago (RA4). We had an Ilford Cibachrome processor we used for RA4 at the university, and since chemicals would die in it after a few days, I'd make a few prints when the chemicals were about to die rather than waste them. It was a good lesson is seeing color, but too bad I was a lousy student.

My hat off to all those working in color. We all see color differently (with color blindness on one end of the scale) and react emotionally to color differently. Watching a sunset a few years ago, the colors were finally all gone and I was ready to head back, but the lady I was with wanted to stay and enjoy all the colors until they were gone.

Sometimes I think I just do B&W because it is easier (for me...YMMD).

I enjoy the color work of Cape Light by Joel Meyerowitz. 8x10 color negative (tungsten balanced) film.

 

[koraks]

I enjoy the color work of Cape Light by Joel Meyerowitz.

Thanks for the ref; that's lovely indeed. I wasn't aware of that series.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

There are many black and white photos that could have been done in colour, and many colour photos that could have been done in black in white.

The difference is in the intent. In the sense that in some cases, the colour photograph is not only about the subject it depicts, but also in part about colour itself—to a point where sometimes you wonder if the photograph isn't solely about colour.

There are contemporary photographers for whom this holds true, i.e., who use colour as an integral and essential part of composition itself. Top of my mind, I can think of:

Alex Webb and his wife Rebecca Norris Webb

Slant Rhymes • Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb • Magnum Photos Magnum Photos

Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb discuss their deeply interwoven joint photography and poetry book project

www.magnumphotos.com

Harry Gruyaert

Harry Gruyaert Returns to Morocco | Magnum Photos Magnum Photos

For his new book, Gruyaert selected images from his archive of more than a half-century photographing Morocco. The work, unpublished until now, shows the country's people and landscapes from the perspective of a passionate outsider.

www.magnumphotos.com

 

[nikos79]

There are many black and white photos that could have been done in colour, and many colour photos that could have been done in black in white.

The difference is in the intent. In the sense that in some cases, the colour photograph is not only about the subject it depicts, but also in part about colour itself—to a point where sometimes you wonder if the photograph isn't solely about colour.

There are contemporary photographers for whom this holds true, i.e., who use colour as an integral and essential part of composition itself. Top of my mind, I can think of:

Alex Webb and his wife Rebecca Norris Webb

Slant Rhymes • Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb • Magnum Photos Magnum Photos

Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb discuss their deeply interwoven joint photography and poetry book project

www.magnumphotos.com

Harry Gruyaert

Harry Gruyaert Returns to Morocco | Magnum Photos Magnum Photos

For his new book, Gruyaert selected images from his archive of more than a half-century photographing Morocco. The work, unpublished until now, shows the country's people and landscapes from the perspective of a passionate outsider.

www.magnumphotos.com

I see what you mean. In my mind when a photograph is solely about color is usually a weak one, more like a design game of marching colors

 

[Alex Benjamin]

In my mind when a photograph is solely about color is usually a weak one, more like a design game of marching colors

Why not try to understand things on their terms rather than on your own?

 

[BrianShaw]

I see what you mean. In my mind when a photograph is solely about color is usually a weak one, more like a design game of marching colors

I’m not sure I know what that means. Can you give an example of a photo that is “solely about color”?