[Leica] Street photography in B&W?

Montie montoid at earthlink.net
Sat Nov 8 04:11:28 PST 2014


My "Grump" swells when I hear junk like "it's a battle" or
statements that suggest it should be "either or"  :-(

Montie


>>I too, would feel enclined to grump on the bandwagon ;-)

Amities
Philippe


Le 8 nov. 2014 à 05:52, RicCarter <ric at cartersxrd.net> a écrit :

> I have finally reached this conclusion:
> 
> There is no more bullshit photographic question than "Which is more [insert whatever term you like here], black & white or color?"
> 
> Very quickly, it descends into "Real photographers shoot black & white," which I have now come to regard as a personal insult.
> 
> Each of us has our own preferences. None of them is founded in anything other than opinion and personal taste.
> 
> I'll do a little self examination to investigate if I do color because it is "easy." 
> 
> Jay, who himself asked the original question, is an excellent street shooter and uses mostly color. The world is full of excellent color street photography. Is B&W the "fashion" of the field is a different question.
> 
> You trying to stir up something, Jay? ;^)
> 
> Sorry to be grumpy. I'll now try to go back to remaining quiet when color or black & white questions arise here.
> 
> Ric Carter
> www.CartersXRd.net
> http://www.facebook.com/ric.carter
> 
> “When you don’t shoot color, you don’t have to worry about color.” — Jay Hunter
> 
> 
>> On Nov 7, 2014, at 10:51 PM, Tina Manley <tmanley at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I may be an old fogie past my prime,  but I still prefer B&W to color in
>> almost all photos of people and in quite a few more also.  Just because
>> color is possible and easy doesn't mean it's always the best choice!
>> 
>> Tina
>> 
>> On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 4:02 PM, Larry Zeitlin via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> An ancillary question - does a good "street" photographer only shoot B&W,
>>> i.e ?is infra dig? :-)
>>> 
>>> Cheers
>>> Jayanand
>>> 
>>> 
>>> - - - -
>>> That's a very interesting question. In my post retirement career as an art
>>> and photo show reviewer I find relatively few "street photos" exhibited but
>>> virtually all are in B&W. There is a feeling amongst show curators and
>>> jurists that B&W photos are more immediate and authentic. Of course most of
>>> these guys are 60 years old or older and are familiar with wartime
>>> pictures, the police shots of WeeGee, and the stuff that was popularized in
>>> the older photo magazines. Naturally, any picture taken with a cell phone
>>> cannot be true "street photography."?Color pictures seem to be too
>>> processed to be true street photography.?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I remember the outrage in the LUG several years ago when I criticized Dr.
>>> Ted's assertion that B&W had more impact than color in depicting scenes of
>>> trauma. I wonder how people will feel about it after a couple of
>>> generations of digital camera use and the ubiquity of cell phones. Come on
>>> guys. Regardless of the Leica Monochrom, color has won the imaging battle.
>>> And it will be true as well in street photography after all the mossbacks
>>> have passed on.
>>> Larry Z ?



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