So, IS black & white photography on its way out?

[John Kasaian]

I'm curious as to the intent of "...on its way out."

1)Does it suggest a decline in the popularity of B&W images?
2)Or does it suggest that photographers no longer seem to be taking photos in B&W?
3)Or is it meant to suggest that B&W photo materials are becoming extinct?

My response would be
1) No.
2) No.
3) As long as the answers to 1 & 2 are "no," its not likely.

Cheers!

[Leonard Metcalf]

Don, I must agree with you, I too am over the film verse digital arguments. I love film, love the smell of fixer, I miss my darkroom, hate the fact that I lost my first five years of digital images to a crashed hard drive, read every review of any digital camera of significance, and love to be able to go to my computer and print an identical print to the last one I did. And am completely satisfied that I will be able to keep shooting film till I'm too old.

And yes it is amusing to watch...

[Andrew O'Neill]

One word...NO!
Funny, I still teach intaglio and woodblock printing at my high school. Photography didn't eliminate these forms of printmaking...okay, that was more than one word.

[andrea1971]

Hello also here in very difficult Italy it find produced for bw, a lot what it there is not and it will be more difficult sampre to find this for those printers is very sad, I do not share the digital one like quality, alone for speed in some practical intense activities, we hold hard and saremo repaid from the quality of our work and from the desire to photograph, like art and not like fashion (digital)

Ciao anche qui in Italia è molto difficile trovare prodotti per bw, molte cose non ci sono e sarà sampre più difficile trovare questo per noi stampatori è molto triste,non condivido il digitale come qualità, solo per velocità in alcuni lavori pratici ,teniamo duro e saremo ripagati dalla qualità del nostro lavoro e dalla voglia di fotografare,come arte e non come moda.(digitale)

[Ted Harris]

To me, the fact that this thread has been going on for FIVE years is the best indication that the answer is a resounding NO.

[paulr]

To me, the fact that this thread has been going on for FIVE years is the best indication that the answer is a resounding NO.

I'm not sure of that. There are many examples of things that are perpetually on their way out but never gone ... dying but not dead. It's not about the last of the materials being gone, or the last practitioner dying. This will never happen. It's about the cultural relevency of something that was once central getting pushed farther and farther out to the margins.

Does this matter? Depends on your goals. It seems like for the bulk of people here, who use the materials primarily because they like them, there's no good reason to stop.

For those interested in reaching an audience, there are advantages AND disadvantages to being mainstream--you might seem more relevent, but you also might seem more commonplace.

[Ralph Barker]

To me, the fact that this thread has been going on for FIVE years is the best indication that the answer is a resounding NO.

Just for fun, let me take the opposite view and say that five years is nothing, and the answer to the five-year old question is a resounding yes.

B&W photography will be completely replaced by 3-D interactive color holograms on the holodeck. There is, however, a certain irony to the fact that if pin 17 on connector no. 493 shorts to pin 18, the whole place changes to monochrome.

[CXC]

Relevancy-wise, the turntable metaphor is apt. Compare the number of turntables sold in the last couple of years with the number of iPods to get a sense of the relative cultural marketshare.

[Don Wallace]

I have changed my mind on this. Black and white photography IS finished. Film is definitely dead. This is bad news for all you Luddite Losers who are stuck with what now amounts to junk equipment. However, do not despair. I have started the Don Wallace Museum for Defunct Hardware and I will pay you 10 cents on the dollar for certain pieces of equipment. I am particularly interested recent high end lenses (formerly high end, that is, until the advent of digital) and I think I might be able to find a spot for nice Philips 11x14 (including holders which are now, of course, utterly useless). I know that the money I am offering is pretty low-ball, but if you have enough for sale, it might be sufficient to get you a nice Nikon D2 or something similar.

[Donald Brewster]

Film has been allegedly dying since the late 19th century. Maybe B&W will become an "alternative process" like gum, bromoil, PT/PD, etc., but it will be around long after we are dead.