A weaker man would post about the cute and cuddly red pandas frolicking in the snow at the Cincinnati zoo. But I will not yield to temptation. What I want to talk about today is the “Your Photographs” feature on the BBC, which this week is highlighting some gorgeous black and white photographs from its readers. This is a place to go to see two things: first how much great photographic talent there is around among amateurs, and second how black and white photography, always my personal favorite, is alive, well, and flourishing.
The second point, the enduring appeal of black and white photography, is at some level surprising at others not. From a technological stand point it represents a transitional technology, and you might have expected a complete adoption of color photography. But it stayed around as sole photographic form for so long that it became a recognized art form. Indeed, an on the other hand, the same is true in drawing. Black and white drawings, charcoals, pen and inks, and engraving are still all very appealing. And every once in a while some cinematographer will still produce a black and white film, because “the subject matter demands it.” Whatever that means! As a jaded ex-New Yorker, I always assumed that it meant that the artist was too cheap to spring for the color film.
Never-the-less, the BBC series shows the magnificence of the art and the glorious appeal of deep black and brilliant whites and really everything in between. Like thick cream, it’s almost tactile! When I photograph, my first thought and inclination is always towards black and white. My favorite among the BBC images is Daniel Furon’s wonderful photograph of coffee cups and saucers at the Café Stijl in San Francisco. De Stijl is a Dutch art movement, whose origins date to 1917, that was based on pure abstract geometric form. And therein is an important point really. For this kind of geometric image, color would be superfluous and distracting. Shedding color accentuates the geometry, and I find my eye delightedly exploring Mr. Furon’s image. The compositional balance in the photograph to me is just perfect. Well done, indeed!
