Black and white or the instantaneously artistic photo

In my earlier years as an amateur photographer and a cinema student I was always fascinated about using black and white photo film. This is something that faces any would-be photographer, and was so especially a number of years ago when digital cameras were still light years behind photo film cameras, and it was absolutely necessary to shoot black and white photographs so that one could be able to handle the developing process.

This experience makes would-be photographers to build a love for this technique, and when they start to shoot their first photos they truly fall in love with the results. At the end of the day, one of the reasons why we like photography is that it has the power to alter reality, to show something as better or worse than what it truly is, showing it more beautiful or uglier – even in this time where technology has made the world a place for rush, a place where that which is not in motion, that which is not dynamic and fast, is of no interest to people.

Black and white shows us another way of looking at the world; that is why I write this very short note of criticism against the abuse of black and white pictures as crutches used to make our photographs "instantaneously artistic".

It is not a secret to anyone that the "Instagram effect" draws our attention immediately by means of a certain alteration of coloring, a sharper contrast or reduced saturation. Little by little this has taken the viewer to a point where he or she loses the refined power of knowing a good picture from a bad one.

I do use these types of tools; but it is not those visual effects which make the photos good, I think, but rather the composition and the attention to detail.

So that you better understand what I say, please take a look at these two pictures:

I chose on purpose this rather graceless photograph that I shot in Miami (actually pretty bad) as an example of what I say. If we see the photo in colors, the photo does not evoke anything in us, it is a mere hamburger set open on a table, a grill in the back, and the chair, a quite lousily composed photo. But when we see the photograph in black and white it improves substantially.

This, besides being a tiny piece of critique, it is also a tip for you to be a better photographer. If you want better vacations pictures, draw more “likes” in social networks, a good first step is to do your photographs in black and white.

Now, let us look at the opposite, a good photograph made in color, suddenly loses a great deal of his charm in its own black and white version.

The images speak for themselves.