Submitted by: aka.attrition
If you came to this article looking for a race-based article or more vax-not-vax or Ukinazi outrage then I’m sorry to disappoint; no doom and gloom in this article today.
My father, a WWII vet, was an engineer by training and trade. A very scientifically minded man. Amongst many things that he taught me was a love of black and white photography. Black and white photography, he opined to me, is much harder to capture well than color. There are many great examples of this art form on the internet and I have saved many that appealed to me over the years. Here are a few I found today, why not add your own in the comments. Enjoy the day, there’s enough outrage porn.
(Yeah, I know, not B&W, sepia?).
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Thanks. Very fine selections.
Indeed.
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Please check out Edward Curtis.
Dedicated his life to record the disappearing tribes of the Americas.
His photographs are truly astonishing.
https://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/.a/6a00d8341c464853ef0120a7915940970b-800wi
I was hoping you would have something to add. Very beautiful, thanks for posting.
Of course, that would have to be her own hand-print … or a person with his back to her … lol!
Photography as an art form was lost when it went digital, then even worse, phone photography.
I have a fondness for B&W photos. Nice, aka.
Yup, I agree. there was something about film, knowing that each click was going to cost even if it didn’t work out. Roll of 24 or 36 and then the cost to develop it. The physical aspect of it, like paper books vs. reading on a screen.
Wow. Thanks for the flashback!
My senior year in HS. I got turned on to B/W slides and shot a bunch of it. Some of the best was from inside one of the closed pottery buildings in town. Wet, plant infested, rotting old buildings. Nothing catches the light/shadows like b/w.
My father was a huge Ansel Adams fan, and in his youth very much into photography. He had a Leica, and a few other good cameras, and there are still glass jugs of developing fluid sitting in the garage (which are at least 60 years old by now, and probably useless).
He also preferred B/W to color, and while much of that comes from when he was growing up, there was no color, either in photos or movies, more of it was from his love of simplicity.
I was fortunate enough to have gone through a film school, so I really picked up the strengths of B/W, because without color, you have to be more aware of light and dark. It can really be used masterfully, as in the Fritz Lang movies “Metropolis” and “M,” with “M” being one of the earliest examples of film noir, in which shadow and light are crucial, not only to the story but also to show (or hide) things which would be readily seen in color (“M” is also notable for being the first movie to have off-screen noises, like the killer’s whistling).
Fritz Lang was much like his colleagues F.W. Murnau (“Nosferatu”) and Robert Wiene (“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”) in that he was trained in art school. They learned how to draw in B/W, so it was much easier for them to visualize how scenes ought to be framed. It is evident these talents served them well (Lang went to Hollywood and later made movies in color, but with a few exceptions most of them were oddly forgettable).
Anyway, I have bored you long enough. B/W photography is beautiful, and essential in understanding how dramatic it can be will help you take better pictures in color, IMO.
We never miss Noir Alley on TCM, Sunday 10AM EDT or Sattiday Midnight. The latter’s too late for us old farts. I think that Edmund O’Brien did almost 20 noirs. Sweetie LOVES the chick hats.
What I really love about film noirs, apart from their intricate plots and rapid-fire dialogue, is how they are able to make a simple shadow as sinister as a ghost.
And you are right, Edmond O’Brien was just about the king of film noirs; one of his best, and what I consider essential viewing, is “The Hitch-Hiker,” from 1953 (in an interesting trivia side-note, it was directed by Ida Lupino, who was a big movie star in the ’30’s and ’40’s; but that is not the interesting part: a woman director at a time that was extremely rare). It is a truly gripping movie.
Also, Orson Welles’ B/W movies were masterpieces, but besides the obvious “Citizen Kane,” I believe his finest work was “Touch of Evil,” from 1958. It is an outstanding example of how shadow and light can be used to ratchet up tension to unbearable levels. A must-see.
While some are divided on its story, I think “Apocalypse Now” was a colorized B/W movie in many ways, notwithstanding its voice-over narration. There are sequences in the movie, such as when Martin Sheen is in camo and moving through the dense jungle, that were framed in a way as you would if making the movie in B/W. And of course, there is the unforgettable Marlon Brando whose character is mostly seen in shadow. Just a beautifully photographed and staged film.
*sigh*
I do go on, don’ t I? 🙁
Captain, thanks for this story which reflects much of how my father spoke to me about B&W photography and must be one of the influences that made me really like film noir and B&W films of old generally.
aka- Most excellent photos, I’m a big fan of B&W photography. In the past color photos would fade in a few decades and not only lose the color but also image. A black and white photo can last a hundred years or more. I am drawn to these B&W images as true art.
WOW! We have palmettos on each side of our shared private road. But this is amazing.
Wow, that’s great.
Check out Ansel Adams’ “Yosemite and the Range of Light”.
I used to love to shoot in B&W with me old Minolta. You’re right there is something magical inspiring about the emptiness of no color.
I have a large collection of black/white films from the 1910s onward.
Many 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and even 1960s B&W classics. Had a years long noir phase.
I used to dabble in black and white photography when I was about 15. On film, of course, and developed it all myself in the dark room.
Me too, same age. Have you seen the price of decent B&W enlargers today? Phew!
The B&W photos remind me of my photography hobby in high school. I had a dark room set up in my Dad’s shed (also a WWII vet – Navy – Pacific Theater). I had a Bogen enlarger and all I worked with in those days was B&W.