When I first began to sell my work at art fairs, I had people tell me to focus on either color images or black and white images. I struggled with that advice because I approach photography with a bit of a documentarian’s eye. I’ll make a black and white image when it’s appropriate and a color image when color is appropriate. When I shoot senior photos,for example, I’ll deliver a variety of images -- some in color, some in black and white -- with different edits depending upon what the image calls for. I don’t deliver 15 shots with the same edit.
I once took the advice about choosing one or the other and filled my space with black and white images. The very FIRST person that stopped in my booth tht day said “Oh, you don’t do color photography?!” Fortunately, I wasn’t drinking, or a spit-take would have been forthcoming!
This summer, I plan on grouping my work with black and whites on one wall, color images on another, and sepia-toned images on a third. That classification tends to group subject matter, too. Hard lines and geometric shapes seem to call for black and white….except when they don’t. See the images with this post, the first of which is a bird flying over a rural bridge and the second which is of a Carlisle school bus. Both have solid lines that play a key role in the image, but the color of the bus is essential for meaning.
I’ll use color when I need to use color. Otherwise, it’s going to be black and white.
Are you drawn to black and white or to color? Or does subject catch your attention first? Tell me in the comments.
