So, who "are" the new black & white photographers?

[tim atherton]

I'm referring back to the recent post about Charlotte Cotton's essay The New Color: The Return of Black-and-White

(see this thread)

I've been thinking about this and written a blog post on "So, who are the new black & white photographers?"

http://photo-muse.blogspot.com/2007/...ack-white.html

Let's assume for now that there is some truth to Cotton's argument, that there is a potential new wave of photographers working in black & white - in some way analogous to the new and exciting directions taken by colour over the last 20 or 30 years.

But if this is the case, who ARE the people doing what we could (perhaps -just perhaps) call "New Black and White"?

Sure there are the old guard - most towards the latter part of their careers. They did some pretty new and interesting stuff but that was a generation or two ago (even though many still continue to be innovative). Sure, they are certainly still going strong now, but who are the new guard?

Cotton listed some - I'm definitely not sure about a number of them, but there are perhaps a few in there

So, is there really much black and white work being done that's innovative, exploratory, vigorous (analogous to, but obviously not the same as, what has happened in colour over the last 25-30 years - and which still continues)?

(and if we want to argue about Cotton's basic premise, perhaps we can take that back to the original thread?)

[Walter Calahan]

I'm sure they know 'who' they are.

I'm too busy being myself to wondered what others are doing.

That's the B&W of it. Sorry to be so colorful. Grin.

[Ted Harris]

Tim,

There are also those of us who, totally excited for 20-30 year with the potential of color, find ourselves turning to black and white again with more frequency than we have for many years.

[tim atherton]

Tim,

There are also those of us who, totally excited for 20-30 year with the potential of color, find ourselves turning to black and white again with more frequency than we have for many years.

Oh, I'm sure (and in part it describes me), but are we basically going to say the limits of black and white have been set. There's a frame or a boundary around it and that's it?

We have pushed Modernism (or the old Topographics) or whatever to the limit. As long as we can make really good work along the same lineage as Atget/Kertesz/Sander (to pick just three areas of photography), that's the most we can do?

Some of the most interesting and intriguing colour work (indeed much of the everyday colour work) would have been hard to conceive of 30 or 40 years ago in many ways. I'm not quite sure the same can be said for black and white?

[paulr]

One of the photogs Cotton named is my friend Susan Lipper:
http://www.susanlipper.com/

You said you checked some of the others she mentioned. Which of them looked interesting to you?

[paulr]

Also up for consideration would be my friend Erik Gould:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/

Old school? New School? A bit of each?

On this topic I've gotten conflicting reviews of my own black and white work. Some think it's a throwback to the 1930s, others a throwback to the 1970s, while a few have said it brings something new to the table. I'm open to feedback.

[julian]

One of the photogs Cotton named is my friend Susan Lipper:
http://www.susanlipper.com/

You said you checked some of the others she mentioned. Which of them looked interesting to you?

I like her stuff a lot, have done for a while but...
this
http://www.susanlipper.com/html/10.html
really needs colour.
IMO there has to be a reason to shoot BW o colour and I feel her stuff would simply be better in colour. She has a fantastic eye and I love her diptychs (no surprise there I guess) - in fact some of her pics are on the 'I could live with those on my wall category', and few reach that stage for me.

[Mark Sawyer]

Also up for consideration would be my friend Erik Gould:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/

Old school? New School? A bit of each?

On this topic I've gotten conflicting reviews of my own black and white work. Some think it's a throwback to the 1930s, others a throwback to the 1970s, while a few have said it brings something new to the table. I'm open to feedback.

I think the works of Susan Lipper and Erik Gould would fit comfortably into the 1970's fine-art photography genre, to the point of being nostalgic today. Whether they intellectualize new intents or interests is another thing, but that was very much a part of 70's photography too...

I think we worry too much about being new and influential. But then, that's what "Art" is all about... unfortunately...

[Ken Lee]

This beautiful little fellow's name is Shyam, which if I'm not mistaken is a classical Indian name for the color of deep sky blue.

He's definitely new. Being of Indian ancestry, you might say he's black and white. And he's certainly a photographer.

[Kevin Crisp]

But if this is the case, who ARE the people doing what we could (perhaps -just perhaps) call "New Black and White"?


Uh....probably the people who've actually read the manuals with their digital point and shoots so they know how to do it?