Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/19

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: B&W vs Colour (was "National Geographic")
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 16:54:46 -0400

If color film had been invented first, Andrew, there might well not have
been any black and white photography. But of course had digital been
invented first, there wouldn't be any film - or any Leica Ms. So what.

I agree with Ted 100% on this one - I find color to be a distracting element
in the vast majority of photos of people or events involving people.
Certainly color has its uses - particularly in places and situations where
the colors of clothing or the setting are important in and of themselves.
But in most cases the viewers eye goes to the brightest colors in an image,
and not to what is necessarily the most import part of the photo.

But this is a subject that is almost as inarguable as religious belief -
there are color people and there are black and white people - and its pretty
unlikely that either one is ever going to convince the other of the error of
his or her ways. :-)

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Andrew
Nemeth
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 4:32 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Re: B&W vs Colour (was "National Geographic")


Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> wrote:

>"When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes!
>But when you photograph them in B&W you photograph their souls!"
>
>As in meaning the B&W is more revealing as it shows the innerself.


I know this is said tongue-in-cheek, but you're *completely*
wrong here Ted.

"B&W is dumbing-down"

"Mislead in B&W, tell the truth in colour"

And to close with Russell Miller at p.4 of "Magnum - fifty
years at the front line of history":

"If colour film had been invented first, would anybody even
<I>contemplate</I> photographing in black and white?"

;?)


Regds,


Andrew Nemeth
Blue Mountains, Australia

<http://nemeng.com>

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