In defence of black and white
At a recent (highly informal) social gathering, I decided to take some snaps, as is often done at such events. On more of a spur-of-the-moment decision than anything, I switched my phone camera to black and white and proceeded to take photos in this fashion throughout the evening.
Apparently in doing this, I broke some kind of unspoken social taboo, as when I showed the photos around, their monochrome nature evoked confusion, derision, and even what appeared to be mild anger in one case. The general consensus seemed to be: Why on earth would you take pictures in black and white when it's been possible for years to take them in colour?
If you're reading this and you don't know me, you'd be forgiven for thinking I'm just an overly pretentious twat who chose trusty b/w in order to show with crystal clarity the horrors of social degradation, or something. So I'll make it clear right now that's not the case. In any case, making such observations are tricky when you're... Well, you get my drift. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, the colour drain was a decision made in a matter of seconds, based on several thoughts.
One: Sad as it sounds, I like to use all the various "effects" on my sprauncy phone every now and again. I thought I'd give black and white a shot.
Two: Colour is useful for showing up something particularly colourful, but since we would be indoors all evening, I couldn't think of anything that would actually necessitate the use o' colour. Unless, I don't know, I wanted to show up the redness of someone's cheeks while screaming along to Chili Peppers. Exactly.
Three: More geekiness. I like the way shadows and contrast show up in black and white. It can turn an average snap into something really quite pretty.
Finally, four: Just because we can take photos in colour, doesn't mean we have to. Plenty of people still dig out old game consoles (I would, if I still had them) for a quick retro blast. There are those who still favour a vinyl LP over CDs, and there's something very nice about receiving a handwritten letter through the post (having said that, I do love e-mailing, and pretty much everything Internet-related). I don't believe in giving up old technology just because something shinier comes along (again, having said that, I'm a sucker for all kinds of new-fangled gadgetry... I'm really not so good at putting forward an argument).
There, rant over. Hey, that felt good...
Apparently in doing this, I broke some kind of unspoken social taboo, as when I showed the photos around, their monochrome nature evoked confusion, derision, and even what appeared to be mild anger in one case. The general consensus seemed to be: Why on earth would you take pictures in black and white when it's been possible for years to take them in colour?
If you're reading this and you don't know me, you'd be forgiven for thinking I'm just an overly pretentious twat who chose trusty b/w in order to show with crystal clarity the horrors of social degradation, or something. So I'll make it clear right now that's not the case. In any case, making such observations are tricky when you're... Well, you get my drift. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, the colour drain was a decision made in a matter of seconds, based on several thoughts.
One: Sad as it sounds, I like to use all the various "effects" on my sprauncy phone every now and again. I thought I'd give black and white a shot.
Two: Colour is useful for showing up something particularly colourful, but since we would be indoors all evening, I couldn't think of anything that would actually necessitate the use o' colour. Unless, I don't know, I wanted to show up the redness of someone's cheeks while screaming along to Chili Peppers. Exactly.
Three: More geekiness. I like the way shadows and contrast show up in black and white. It can turn an average snap into something really quite pretty.
Finally, four: Just because we can take photos in colour, doesn't mean we have to. Plenty of people still dig out old game consoles (I would, if I still had them) for a quick retro blast. There are those who still favour a vinyl LP over CDs, and there's something very nice about receiving a handwritten letter through the post (having said that, I do love e-mailing, and pretty much everything Internet-related). I don't believe in giving up old technology just because something shinier comes along (again, having said that, I'm a sucker for all kinds of new-fangled gadgetry... I'm really not so good at putting forward an argument).
There, rant over. Hey, that felt good...
posted by elliot at 9:28 AM
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