[Leica] Black and White

[images at InfoAve.Net (Tina Manley)]

At 03:36 PM 10/12/2005, you wrote:
>Tina, I prefer the color ones.  When I first looked I thought I'd 
>like the BW because it's more "traditional" for this kind of work, 
>but I think the color is important here.  First, it's how you "saw" 
>the images when you were shooting, so it conveys some of your 
>immediate response.  Second, people in this culture obviously use 
>color to animate their lives.  It's totally a part of who they 
>are.  And I agree with Luis that shooting in BW is diferent from 
>shooting in color and converting later.  I don't think of color as 
>arbitrary or capricious.  It's part of the form, IMO.

I've heard this but I don't agree, for me anyway.  I don't think 
there's any difference in seeing a scene in color and photographing 
it in black and white and seeing a photo in color and converting it 
to black and white.  I'm not thinking as I take the photo, "Well, 
I've got black and white film in here so I'll photograph this scene 
this way".  I'm only looking at the people and trying to capture an 
emotion.  I don't usually pay any attention to the technical details 
as I'm taking the photo - only to see that I've got enough light to 
hold the camera steady.  That's just me and I know others work 
entirely differently.  I'm just glad that with digital I have a choice.

I do agree that color is an important part of the Guatemalan people's 
lives.  It always amazes me how beautiful and bright all of those 
colors are when everything around them is dark and the color of 
dirt.  But the colors are so bright and beautiful that they overwhelm 
everything else.  If I were doing an article on textiles and 
Guatemalan weavings, the photos would have to be in color.  What I 
want viewers to notice in these photos is the family.

Tina

Tina Manley, ASMP
http://www.tinamanley.com