Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2014/11/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]It wasn't a matter of fashion for me. Until Cibachrome, I wasn't interested in printing color because the quality was so low for the high cost. I shot my share of Kodachrome slides when I could afford it, but for me, and most of us my age, B&W was what we could afford. When I got into the news business, stringing for UPI and AP, the wire faxes only transmitted B&W anyhow. (Rarely you would see a separation set come across, but we never sent them out of New Orleans or Baton Rouge.) On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 12:00 PM, Tina Manley <tmanley at gmail.com> wrote: > I would like to apologize for saying color was easy. I should never post > anything after I've had two glasses of wine! Color is not easy!! Correct > color is very hard and Ric nails it every time. I was thinking of the > point and shoot people with iPhones who only shoot in color and never > correct or convert anything. > > I still like B&W, though! ;-) > > Tina > > On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 12:35 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at > gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Ric, > > I agree with you 100%. > > > > The point I was trying to make is that the frequently implied notion that > > B&W is "Art" and "The Real Thing", and that colour is an inferior medium, > > is, to my mind, completely irrelevant today. Most of the early masters > shot > > B&W because that is all they had access to, not because it was a > conscious > > artistic choice, and by the time widespread colour film of reasonable > > quality was available, they were too set in their ways to take full > > advantage of the new medium, not unlike the extreme reluctance of many > > photographers to switch from film to digital in the early days of > digital. > > In other words, IMHO, there is a heavy dose of artistic propaganda and > > conditioning here in the repeatedly stated fact of the so called > > "supremacy" of B&W as an artistic medium. Starting with Ernst Haas and > Saul > > Leiter in the 1950s and 1960s, there is enough of a body of excellent > > street photography in colour - one needs only to look at, say, Raghubir > > Singh's body of work on the streets of India, or Constantine Manos' > recent > > book on the USA to understand what I mean. Similarly, I can see the soul > of > > a subject just as easily in Steve McCurry's hypnotic colour portraits as > in > > Jane Bown's equally hypnotic monochromatic ones. > > > > I do both, and I enjoy doing both, but colour is my basic medium, and B&W > > is an ancillary medium. By the way, colour is not easy - I spend more > time > > post processing my colour photographs than I do my B&W ones. When I > cannot > > get the colour right, I convert to B&W - to me that is an easy option! > > > > This is not to belittle anybody, or any other opinion, but I have just > > stated what MY views are on this subject. > > > > Cheers > > Jayanand > > > > > > > > On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 10:22 AM, RicCarter <ric at cartersxrd.net> wrote: > > > > > I have finally reached this conclusion: > > > > > > There is no more bullshit photographic question than "Which is more > > > [insert whatever term you like here], black & white or color?" > > > > > > Very quickly, it descends into "Real photographers shoot black & > white," > > > which I have now come to regard as a personal insult. > > > > > > Each of us has our own preferences. None of them is founded in anything > > > other than opinion and personal taste. > > > > > > I'll do a little self examination to investigate if I do color because > it > > > is "easy." > > > > > > Jay, who himself asked the original question, is an excellent street > > > shooter and uses mostly color. The world is full of excellent color > > street > > > photography. Is B&W the "fashion" of the field is a different question. > > > > > > You trying to stir up something, Jay? ;^) > > > > > > Sorry to be grumpy. I'll now try to go back to remaining quiet when > color > > > or black & white questions arise here. > > > > > > Ric Carter > > > www.CartersXRd.net > > > http://www.facebook.com/ric.carter > > > > > > ?When you don?t shoot color, you don?t have to worry about color.? ? > Jay > > > Hunter > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > > -- > Tina Manley > www.tinamanley.com > tina-manley.artistwebsites.com > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Regards, Sonny http://sonc.com/look/ Natchitoches, Louisiana 1714 Oldest Permanent Settlement in the Louisiana Purchase USA