[Leica] WAS : Barcelona in color

[photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman)]

Hi Ted,

I wonder if you are thinking about this one, from Seville in 2003 or 2004?

http://www.frozenlight.eu/fotosevilla/night/content/L2004_14_12_large.html

That was one of my most-commented-upon pictures ever.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman
Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu
http://www.greatpix.eu
http://www.nathanfoto.com
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog

YNWA







On Apr 15, 2011, at 8:43 AM, <tedgrant at shaw.ca> <tedgrant at shaw.ca> 
wrote:

> Lawrence Zeitlin offered
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Barcelona in color
> 
> 
>> Nathan,
>> Not trolling at all. I was just curious. Many of the pictures that you 
>> post
>> in and around Alicante are about people too, yet you usually shoot in 
>> color.<<<,
> 
> 
> Hi Larry,
> That may be true, however some of Nathan's more spectacular photographs 
> over the years have been people in B&W! There is one I recall from several 
> years ago at night with a few people on the street. I believe Madrid? 
> Barcelona? Or some other location prior to his moving to Alicante? It was 
> most eye catching simply because it was in  B&W!
> 
>> I reject Dr. Ted's pat aphorism that when you photograph people in color,
>> you photograph their clothes but when you shoot B&W you photograph their
>> soul. <<<
> 
> Be my guest and reject all you like my friend. :-) However let me give an 
> example.:-) True incident in the UK several years ago.
> 
> Two photographers with a portrait studio decided they'd only shoot B&W 
> portraits. They completely renovated the studio front windows, re-opening 
> as a B&W portraits only! In the front exhibit space they placed beautiful 
> B&W portrait prints and advertised they only did their portraits in B&W.
> 
> Clients who insisted on colour were offered B&W or the doorway! One would 
> think them a bit looney given this was the beginning of a new operation 
> and one would surely want every dollar possible.
> 
> However? Given it being a very fine portrait studio originally with a 
> great number of clients prior to the change over. Within the first three 
> months they tripled the gross income shooting only B&W! Whatever it is 
> about B&W drew a wonderful new clientele.
> 
> Actually the difference is the "content" creates which is greater in many 
> cases.
> 
> Disasters generally look worse in B&W simply because the content is 
> usually violent and death! Of course not in every case. What is the B&W 
> photograph that comes to mind from Vietnam? I have two without question. 
> Eddie Adams photo of the police officer shooting the VC through the head 
> and the young girl running away from the Napalm with her clothes and body 
> burnt. Vivid B&W both! And colour wouldn't have added anything!
> 
>>> Imagine Matthew Brady's problem trying to photograph the US Civil war in 
>>> color using the wet collodion process.<<
> 
> I doubt they'd be any better! As most are "classic content" images to 
> start with, so I doubt colour would've improved them at all.  Regardless 
> of the technical situation. Along those lines if we compare the dramatic 
> B&W movies of the past, quite often these days we see with "colour added." 
> Quite frankly they look quite horrid as the colour adds absolutely 
> nothing, but almost destroys the craftsmanship of the lighting people and 
> camera angles .
> 
> Colour can in many cases, be a complete distraction from the content. As I 
> understand photography, it's the content that is the most important part 
> of the photograph.  That is unless one is dabbling strictly in colour for 
> colour sake.
> 
> So Larry mon ami it's basically "to each his own." I shoot colour when the 
> assignment is to be shot in colour and B&W when the assignment is for B&W 
> re-production. I would offer, of the 100,000 images in the National 
> Gallery of Canada collection they are all B&W documentary images. The 
> 280,000 images in the National Archives of Canada collection? It's 
> probably 75% B&W, 25% colour. Again simply because of the assignment and 
> whether magazine assignments, travel or tourism or whether the client 
> asked specifically to shoot in whatever medium.
> 
> I suppose if you owned one of my published medical books, "This is Our 
> Work. The Legacy of Sir William Osler" "Doctor's Work" or "Women in 
> Medicine. A celebration of their Work."  You might have a better 
> understanding what I mean: "When you photograph people in colour, you 
> photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in B&W, you 
> photograph their souls!"
> 
> And as far as digital? Quite often I use my Digilux 2 set to shoot B&W and 
> I get some very interesting B&W images. Actually the really cool thing is, 
> looking through the viewfinder at a B&W world and "Click!" A B&W image 
> right out of the camera! :-)
> 
> cheers,
> Dr. ted :-)
> 
> 
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