Please, Pease, Please Help... Please

[Robert West]

I know i've already asked this question but there's just not enough of you responding :cry: Over forty ofyou have read my query, but only four of you wrote a response... and quite frankly it's just not good enough :!:

I know some of you just don't have anything to say on the subject, but those of you who do, I'm relying on YOU. You're the experts!

so...please, please, please write... something...anything?!?!

Hello, my name's Robert West, I'm a 21yr old photography student currently undertaking my third and final year of my Degree at the Norwich School of Art and design, Norfolk, England. As part of my degree i am required to write a 10,000 word dissertation on a subject of my choice.

The title of my essay is...

How does photographing an event in black and white, rather than colour, change the relationship between the viewer and the subject?

It sounds complicated, but is actually fundamentally quite simple. I want to explore how seeing an event in black and white can distance the audience from the reality represented, constantly reminding us that it is only a film, and that what is on the screen cannot harm us.

I guess you guys (and gals!) are the experts, so hopefully you will be able to help me.

Aside from the question above i would very much like your opinions on...

*How b/w photography can feel older, for example how it is used in films such as the Elephant man , Raging bull or Schindler's List.

*The 'immediacy' of colour war photography ie. how much more powerful horrific images can become if they are shot in colour.

*How b/w abstracts reality by removing one of the elements we can instantly understand.

*Whether, despite this, b/w can ever be MORE realistic than colour. ie. there is reality, and our perception of reality.

These are just a few ideas, if you have any other opinions regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of b/w photography compared with colour please let me know.

Please also feel free to email me at selectcreate@aol.com

Thank You.

 

[metroshane]

Gee, we'd love to do your homework for you, but.....


Just kiddin'...I think not many people responded because we really aren't that qualified to give a film philosophy answer.

 

[voodoocat]

I don't think anyone responded because it sounds like you want us to do your homework.

 

[ksmattfish]

I read your first post. I am still struggling with my answer (and I'm rarely at a loss for words).

I shoot almost all (99+%) BW. I don't know if I can really explain why that's my choice. I just know that I like BW photography better than color photography. A lot of the color photography that I like looks monochrome. I still really like color photography, but BW just turns me on.

If I can ever formulate my visceral feelings into words then I will be sure to post. Until then I'll give you this lame explanation: color is the visual aspect with the strongest emotional response. It can easily dominate over shape, tonality, form, texture, etc... Removing color emphasizes the other visual aspects. As the saying goes "If you can't make it good, make it big. If you can't make it big, make it red."

 

[terri]

Someone around here has a signature with a quote that goes along these lines: "If you shoot someone in color, you see the color of his clothes; if you shoot someone in B&W you see the color of his soul."

Go with that. I wish I knew the author of that quote.

Really, you've picked a fascinating subject for those of us who prefer B&W over color. But YOU picked it. For me it's simply a visceral reaction and I tend not to look at it too closely. I'd rather not analyze my reactions to art until they're dead, but that's just me. You've already touched on several aspects of it here. Whether you can draw that out into 10,000 words....I dunno. I wouldn't want to attempt that. To take something that's purely subjective and turn it into a lengthy objective narrative is really what you're struggling with here.

Good luck, Robert! Sorry I can't be more help.

 

[doxx]

How does photographing an event in black and white, rather than colour, change the relationship between the viewer and the subject?

I think it's based on perception in the first place. Since I'm working in the graphic design business I might look at pictures and colors very differently, but let me try to explain my point of view...

in our normal life we are used to an overkill of colors (think tv, advertisements, billboards etc.) and we don't really need to think about the message - our minds are made up by canned, colorful, 'real life' and oversaturated images.

Whenever we see a photograph in black and white it seems to make the picture special - some kind of exceptional. Since we're not used to black and white photography anymore, the images makes yourself add the missing information - the mood, the atmosphere... the lack of color.

Good B/w photography simply becomes alive through light and shadow, contrast between black and white - it just transports raw emotion, nothing else.

nuff said... photography is about transporting a message -b/w or color-

 

[ksmattfish]

*How b/w photography can feel older, for example how it is used in films such as the Elephant man , Raging bull or Schindler's List.

BW is how they did it all in the old days. It's nostalgic. People see BW and they think "old timey".

*The 'immediacy' of colour war photography ie. how much more powerful horrific images can become if they are shot in colour.

This is all about red. Why is red so powerful? Because it's blood!! Yikes!!! Millions of years of evolution makes the sight of red start the adrenaline drip in our system.

*How b/w abstracts reality by removing one of the elements we can instantly understand.

See the lame answer I posted above.

*Whether, despite this, b/w can ever be MORE realistic than colour. ie. there is reality, and our perception of reality.

Most of the news and documentary photographs of the last century are done in BW. Even before digital, extensive image manipulation was going on, but people perceived photographs as reality and truth. "Seeing is believing", and people used to consider looking at a photo almost as good as being there. The age when BW dominated was a time of trust, and I think that there is still some of this emotion in viewers today when they look at BW. With the digital revolution, our perception of a photo as the truth is changing. Anyone can easliy change images on their home computer. Future generations will not perceive photos as always being accurate representations of reality.

 

[bogleric]

Quite honestly, if you are in your third and final year aren't you far more qualied than us for a philosophical paper.

Either way, I agree with alot of what doxx said about perceptions and especially about B&W forcing the viewer to become more engaged and less lazy to truly appreciate the setting.

 

[mrsid99]

It seems that there's been a bunch of suggestions presented which should give you something to work with and if this is your third year at it and you're still at a loss maybe a change of study subject is called for?
One thought, remember the old Norfolk way of "du different"? Maybe a new approach could help?

 

[ksmattfish]

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. You're a photog student, right? So take 10 photos, 5 different images in both color and BW. There's your 10,000 word dissertation.

 

[bogleric]

I can see it now... the worlds first pictoral dissertation....

 

[lizheaemma]

OK so here's my two cents worth.

Why don't you get some photo's that are b&w and the same photo in colour then get people to say ten thing about them see what trends show up. It would help bulk up your writing and fit in with the rest of your idea's!

 

[Destiny]

Photography is not an analytical thing for me. I also had a semester photography at school, and I liked taking photos, I liked looking at the photos proved, I enjoyed seeing how artistic they were, how they kept my attention but I hated the part when we had to analyse them , to analyse the way objects were working on the viewer, analysing why an artist rather had chosen BW instead of color.
Photos are there for me to look at, to enjoy, and to take, not to analyse.

And BW is fascinating. There are no colours and some details are less clear in a BW picture....so we stay focused on other things...no bright colour that could draw our attention.

Geeze, I shouldn't try to write a reply to such a deepgoing topic in the middle of the night

 

[Face]

i work in b& w cuz that's all i have the equipment for printing myself. I do enjoy color too. I think black and white is more artsy, because of how little it is used (in comparison to color). it's a more altered reality than what we really live in. we don't see in b&w, but in color.

 

[Jeff Canes]

This is my two cents. Everyone here may think I am crazy but:

I do not think that B&W has any innate attributes that make it automatically better that color. I believe it the skill of the photographer.

My option about good abstracts is that the subjects are generally simple. And that they need to be technically correct because any errors will standout do to the simple subject. That answers sound a lot like skills.

Composition and Skills along Patiences and Practice make good photographs plus a little luck.