[Leica] WAS : Barcelona in color

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (tedgrant at shaw.ca)]

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 :-)