Color vs Black and White, the eternal debate

[MattKing]

You are getting a lot of feedback from the community and moderating team

FWIW, I don't see much sign of the feedback coming from any of us while wearing our "Moderator" hats.
It almost entirely seems to be coming from our "engaged experienced and active member" roles.

 

[nikos79]

I've been following this thread and enjoying it.

Don't assume everyone here disagrees with you. Many people read this forum without posting after all, and who knows what they're thinking? I respect that you are engaging with this forum in English, which if I recall correctly is not your native language. I appreciate your participation here and hope it continues because you have ideas that are not the norm here, which is healthy.

You are getting a lot of feedback from the community and moderating team about how this forum works, and the type of communication that is acceptable here. People are investing their time and energy helping you. That is a compliment! Please repay that compliment by adjusting your approach and you will find this a welcoming and educational place.

Photrio is unique on the internet because it offers deep photographic knowledge and a willingness to help one another learn and grow. Stick around. Share pictures.

Thanks a lot for this post it was really encouraging. Yes, English is not my native tongue, that is why I resorted to AI at my first posts but since I understood that people here value authenticity I kept it row. Truly many different people with interesting and smart ideas

 

[warden]

FWIW, I don't see much sign of the feedback coming from any of us while wearing our "Moderator" hats.
It almost entirely seems to be coming from our "engaged experienced and active member" roles.

Hi Matt, that sounds good to me. The hats are sometimes invisible but I like that moderators participate as well as moderate here.

 

[nikos79]

I really wish you would stop referring to photographs you don't like as "bad" or "awful". You clearly have an uncommonly narrow set of criteria of what photographs you like. The photographers who took these photos are not unskilled or incompetent. The high-contrast scene is not a mistake. This is a deliberate choice and it creates a mood. Evidently you do not perceive the mood, and you do not see how it would be lost. But that's your own limitation, not the photographer's. If we are talking of purely about aesthetic preferences, it seems to me, based on your descriptions, like the photos that you like are photos I might find boring and uninteresting.

Ok understood your point.
Maybe i will try to explain then why the first black and white photo doesn't resonate with me and perhaps you might understand a bit my point.

This is a typical example of what I call "instagrammable" pboto. Sure the photographer is skilled and competent as any good Lightroom user or graphic designer. I am pretty sure this photo has at least 3000 likes on Instagram and I am also pretty sure that the photographer has tons of similar "moody", neo-noir styled pictures.

And, so what? If I ask ChatGPT I can get hundreds of such pictures. When I see these kind of picture I understand that behind them is a skilled photographer that wants to impress. And when something screams for impression is usually unattractive to me. It undermines my intelligence if it tries to impress me with using cheap tricks.

The photo that can impress me doesn't scream for attention. Usually it is simple, sometimes might even seem mundane, but through its simplicity it can accept many reads and is complex.

While this photo looks mostly constructed to create a mood a photo thay I find attractive will create the mood through associations and clever use of the photographic elements. It will create tension through some unusual angle, some powerful dialogue between its subjects, some cleverer use of the four angles of the frame.

The photo above is single-dimensional. It's reading is usually exhausted within the first seconds and are obvious. And thus boring

Maybe I would have accepted it as an "OK" photo if it wasn't for the dark human figure there. But this was the cherry on the cake that made it "too much" for me. Oh yes perhaps you could have added some long trench coat too to complete the neo noir feeling. Dear photographer whoever they were if you like neo-noir find a new Humphrey Baugart and go make a movie! Don't have to.take photos!

 

[pentaxuser]

In the photo posted, the Larch trees change colour and drop their needles in the fall, they are only that yellow colour for about 2 weeks at most. So I think that the colour is essential to the photo, otherwise it's a just another mountain and tree photo.

Yes I never for a moment thought that my experience or Matt's was going to change your mind I simply thought it worth mentioning that it was a similar scene to that shown by Matt that persuaded me that b&w had its place in such scenes when I previously had a similar outlook to that of yourself

pentaxuser

 

[koraks]

And, so what? If I ask ChatGPT I can get hundreds of such pictures.

It's hard to stand out if there are billions of the same already around. Maybe standing out isn't always the purpose.

"We are all individuals!"

 

[gary mulder]

. Dear photographer whoever they were if you like neo-noir find a new Humphrey Baugart and go make a movie! Don't have to.take photos!

To me this sounds patronising.

 

[koraks]

To me this sounds patronising.

I agree. From both a personal and a moderator's perspective. I conclude that neither fierce criticism, nor more gentle approaches help to set a more constructive tone in @nikos79's posts.

 

[nikos79]

To me this sounds patronising.

It was ironic of course but the photographer is not a member on Photrio, otherwise I would have never expressed like that. But sure you can remove it

 

[koraks]

It was ironic of course but the photographer is not a member on Photrio, otherwise I would have never expressed like that.

So you're OK saying something like this about someone when they're not around, but you wouldn't say it to their face?

 

[nikos79]

So you're OK saying something like this about someone when they're not around, but you wouldn't say it to their face?

They are already successful photographers and famous on Instagram I dont think they will take my words seriously or get hurt even in the lowest chances they might read that posts here

Theoretically speaking if I had them face to face of course I wouldn't speak like that, what you think?

 

[koraks]

Theoretically speaking if I had them face to face of course I wouldn't speak like that

I see.

 

[gary mulder]

I took the liberty to look this image. https://www.nikosdiamantis.com/s/R0002711.jpg. Way is it a color image ?

 

[nikos79]

I took the liberty to look this image. https://www.nikosdiamantis.com/s/R0002711.jpg. Way is it a color image ?

Sometimes I convert them to color mostly in black and white because i like it more. But usually according the mood I might change the photo to bw and back to color (since I do digital it is color by default)

But actually in the beginning I had this one as black and white. Do you like it?

 

[nikos79]

I see.

I am sorry my tone was bad and I apologise. I wanted to make a joke with the noir film analogy but came out bad

 

[koraks]

Okay, I understand. Thanks for clarifying. It sounded like pretty harsh criticism to me. The way I see it, criticism is OK, but especially if it's harsh, I feel there should be a clear argumentation underlying it that extends beyond an individual's taste.

 

[nikos79]

It's hard to stand out if there are billions of the same already around. Maybe standing out isn't always the purpose.

"We are all individuals!"

Yes, but that is my point. You don't have to stand out, but I believe it is better to try and be yourself and not try to copy styles that would impress others. Of course you might say this is a very personal opinion I just did now and the way I interpreted things (heavily biased) just to clarify that I am not speaking some universal truth or something.

But as an analogy comparing it to your own photos, I immediately see the difference. You are not the first to take photos of fields or trees in the medium, but the way you do it is "honest" you put your personal self and perspective to it. Your photos do not try to impress, they don't scream for "hey look how cool I made it in Lightroom, that shadow I put there vanishing in the dark is awesome, right?". They are just photos as they should be channeling your view of your world. That I find honest, the opposite I find "fake".

Perhaps I am very sensitive into getting these vibes from the photos, but again this is my very own approach on them.

 

[nikos79]

B&W photo: “Lonely alleys of Venice,” by ines_maria.
Color photo: Linda Holt

I don't have the original URL where I got the B&W photo (I might find it when I get home) but I was able to do a reverse image search. I've added credits to the original posts.

500px

500px.com

This is the artist just to give credits. It looks exactly as I had suspected very similar photos and the dark figure like a passepartout that you can put it on will on every single photo. This is what we call a maniere in art.