I have been posting a ton of black and white photos to my Instagram lately. I just can’t seem to get enough of it! I know I have wrote a previous blog about When to turn an image to black and white, but lately I have a few personal reasons for converting a photograph into black and white that have less to do with a photograph technically. Lately, they have been my personal preference, and here are some additional reasons I turn a photograph into black and white:
The Color Doesn’t Add Anything to the Story
Kirsten Lewis talks about this on her creative live course, and I quite agree with her. If color isn’t bringing anything to the story, then go ahead and change it to black and white.
A Sense of Nostalgia and Documentary Feel
I have been really interested in documentary photography lately. I am fascinated and so impressed by it. I do not call myself a documentary photographer, because I feel that I interfere too much not to do damage to the name documentary photographer. For instance, I will turn off lights, or suggest that my child go do that activity next to that pretty window light. However, I so admire the patience and decision making it takes to be a good documentary photographer.
See this on the Daily Project.
My Need to Freeze Time Through a Photograph
This one has been hitting me hard lately and is so personal. I just so want time to slow down. I think that is the nature of us photographers, we all want to preserve a moment in time. That’s why we become photographers! I know change is good, and I like change most of the time. But, man, *sigh* I just feel it’s really racing by me lately. I think that I am doing all my photos in black and white lately because by stripping all my photographs of all color I will somehow preserve that moment more in my mind. I of course know that’s not the case, but maybe I’m making these decisions because of this gut feeling I have.
I Want to Shoot my Photography from the Heart
Normally, I analyze and plot ideas in my head. The way that I do that is by thinking about color ALL THE TIME! Color theory fills my thoughts frequently. However, I have felt this need to shoot from the heart lately and less from a technical/analytical head space.
Don’t worry I still love color and will jump right back into it soon. But for now, I am enjoying this small detour. Until then, visit me on Instagram and enjoy some of my black and white photography!
Thanks for reading.