> I would suggest that since we see in color, it is color that has a > tendency to be blas? (one reason that people are still drawn to > photographing sunsets, flowers and other extraordinarily colorful > subjects). > > I would argue that part of the aesthetic appeal of Black & White (or > other monochromes) is precisely because we DON'T see that way. It > gives us an alternative view of the world that we don't get > ordinarily. > > Certainly it is in the "different strokes for different folks" arena, > but I could not disagree more that "B&W is boring" (although I would > agree that poorly done B&W is not exciting simply because it is in > B&W). > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska
> >From the book "Ansel in Color" > Adams felt closest to black and white photography, which can be > manipulated to produce a wide range of bold, expressive tones, and he > felt constricted by the rigidity of the color process. "Art implies > control of reality, for reality itself possesses no sense of the > esthetic. Photography becomes an art when certain controls are > applied..." > > In a 1962 essay describing his efforts in color, Adams noted the irony > of our perceptions about the two media. "There is little or no > 'reality' in the blacks, grays and whites of either the informational > or expressive black-and-white image," he wrote, "and yet we have > learned to interpret these values as meaningful and 'real.'" > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska I feel sort of the the same way as you Darren, but not precisely. I rarely (if ever) see a black and white photograph and think "Ooh, Aah, that's breathtaking!". I do feel that about color photography very often. OTOH, I see monochrome images and think they're very nice and I appreciate the aesthetics and even convert to monochrome occasionally. So I think I see the 'sheer in your face beauty' in color images, whereas I feel more contemplative and introspective regarding the monochrome images I enjoy. Possibly, because of the influence of television, monochrome images almost always strike me as older. I've liked, but never really loved Ansel's work. Not putting it down in any way. A fair portion of it doesn't strike my fancy, even though some of it's very good. Possibly Ansel also felt closest to B&W because that's essentially what he learned on, grew up on, made his fame on. I would too! :-) Tom C. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
