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Street shots in Japan

I have to ask. Why is it that photos like this are always in black-and-white? I like black-and-white photography a lot and it's about all I do. But then, I don't shoot "street" or other documentary or snapshotty pictures. If you are going to document the everyday conditions or street scenes of a place and time, why not shoot color film? I may have been interested in seeing "through your lens" what these places look like, but as it is, I feel like I'm really missing out.
 
BetterSense said:
I have to ask. Why is it that photos like this are always in black-and-white?
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Well, 'photos like this' are like 'photos like this' - or, if you mean street photography ... they aren't all like that.

???
 
BetterSense said:
I like black-and-white photography a lot and it's about all I do. But then, I don't shoot "street" or other documentary or snapshotty pictures.
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Is there a rule that people can't shoot "snapshotty pictures" in B&W?
 
To paraphrase a far smarter man, photograph a man in colour and you shoot his sweater; photograph a man in B&W and you shoot his soul.
 
firecracker said:
Is there a rule that people can't shoot "snapshotty pictures" in B&W?
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No. I do all the time. It's just that I was hoping to see these shots from Japan in full color. Now, I feel like I've not seen japan, I've seen some pictures that happened to be taken there.
 
I enjoyed the images. The Tokio portfolio in particular seemed to have some melancholic air about it, people depicted very casually, absorbed in their activities, sometimes glancing backwards in their moving. I seem to see the fractals of a city skape, and what is more, through another one's eyes, a personal vision.
Regarding black and white: well, this is a possible vision. One must decide what to show and what not to show.
Picture 59 of the Tokio portfolio is blurred/unsharp. Was it intentionally included? If yes, I would question this decision.
 
Nice pics, I enjoyed looking at them. I've lived in Tokyo for a few years myself now, and I have recently begun doing a little street photography.

I also prefer to shoot black and white, mainly because I can develop it in my bathroom. I tend to save the color film for the cherry blossoms, colorful summer festivals, and the fall foliage. Winter is definitely black and white season in Tokyo.
 
I personally like the Shikoku pictures best. The Tokyo pictures somehow leave the impression of being overwhelmed by the amount of "new" things/views to be photographed. To me it feels like the pictures were taken quite randomly and hecticly.
The Shikoku pictures on the other hand seem to be more "calm". You probably were more at rest, gave the composition more thought, I think that reflects in your pictures. I could also look at each of the Shikoku pictures for a longer time, as opposed to the Tokyo pictures where I felt the urge to click to the next picture within a fraction of a second.
I lived in Tokyo, I know how "overwhelming" (or: impressive) it can be. It certainly offers lots of motives, but I think it's best to relax and just accept the fact that you cannot possibly ever take photos of all the things that amaze/impress you. At least that was my approach.
 
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