Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

[Greg Lockrey]

Greg Lockrey: "Art is about inflaming.... Illustration is about recording....

What Brian said...."

Brian Ellis: "Color tells us what things look like. B&W tells us what they felt like (I have no idea if that's true but it sounds good to me)"

Thanks Greg for the reply. From my experience this is a fairly widespread belief. However, I still take some issue with it. No photograph is actually what something 'looks like.' While color may be closer to what we expect from "reality" I believe it is just a better disguised departure from reality. However, I will not argue that B&W is 'more' of a departure from reality than color.

Ok.... if it's pinhole and in color I'll call it "art"....

[Greg Lockrey]

Greg Lockrey: "I never met an ''artist'' who had to describe his art in terms of what pencil he draws with or the brand of paint or brushes. Photographers on the other hand are "craft" oriented and the detail is in the materials."

I totally agree that this is the case, and see it as a problem. When displaying my photographs I have no interest in describing my process, materials, or technique. However, that is what a lot of viewers want to know....especially those with DSLR's around their neck. It should be all about the works subject matter....but in photography there are often other distractions.

it didn't start with dSLR's Guys with Leicas have been comparing images to 4x5's from the start. Photography is more about the "craft" than about "art". Photographers want to think of themselves as artists and try to overlook the craft to call it art when in reality it is just the opposite. Just as learning to draw is a craft too. Art is something else entirely.

[adam satushek]

William McEwen: "Question: How many of you have had someone look at one of your black and white photographs and remarked, "Too bad it's not in color!"

Interesting question....as I counter point I have never had anyone look at my color photographs and say they with they were B&W. However, I have had a grant proposal rejected on the basis that my work was not 'art,' but was merely documentation and exercise in composition. (note: I should have known that a organization with the word 'craft' in their name would prefer the photographer that shot collodian wet plate images of their grandmother in a white dress in an abandoned house to my large color inkjet prints.....). Each is entitled to their opinion....and I am very entrenched in my own.

[Greg Lockrey]

William McEwen: "Question: How many of you have had someone look at one of your black and white photographs and remarked, "Too bad it's not in color!"

Interesting question....as I counter point I have never had anyone look at my color photographs and say they with they were B&W. However, I have had a grant proposal rejected on the basis that my work was not 'art,' but was merely documentation and exercise in composition. (note: I should have known that a organization with the word 'craft' in their name would prefer the photographer that shot collodian wet plate images of their grandmother in a white dress in an abandoned house to my large color inkjet prints.....). Each is entitled to their opinion....and I am very entrenched in my own.

That's because most people understand "illustration" and confuse it with "art". Each requires a certain level of "craft". Both have their place.

[adam satushek]

Greg Lockrey: "Photography is more about the "craft" than about "art". Photographers want to think of themselves as artists and try to overlook the craft to call it art when in reality it is just the opposite. Just as learning to draw is a craft too. Art is something else entirely."

Again a very generalized statement. I see what your getting at but totally disagree. Photography can be art, but is not necessarily. Its all about intent. This kind of comes back to, I believe it was Weston, who demanded to be called a "photographer" instead of an "artist," somehow implying that they former is more valid. Personally I think that whole discussion is irrelevant, some photographers do it for the craft (craftsmen), and others do it to say something (artists). This distinction has nothing to do with chosen materials. And while I place myself firmly in the latter, I will not waste my time trying to convince anyone else of this. Its a pointless pursuit.

[William McEwen]

"Art is concerned about space. Illustration is concerned about things." - Martha, Michael A. Smith's first wife.

[Greg Lockrey]

Greg Lockrey: "Photography is more about the "craft" than about "art". Photographers want to think of themselves as artists and try to overlook the craft to call it art when in reality it is just the opposite. Just as learning to draw is a craft too. Art is something else entirely."

Again a very generalized statement. I see what your getting at but totally disagree. Photography can be art, but is not necessarily. Its all about intent. This kind of comes back to, I believe it was Weston, who demanded to be called a "photographer" instead of an "artist," somehow implying that they former is more valid. Personally I think that whole discussion is irrelevant, some photographers do it for the craft (craftsmen), and others do it to say something (artists). This distinction has nothing to do with chosen materials. And while I place myself firmly in the latter, I will not waste my time trying to convince anyone else of this. Its a pointless pursuit.

Ok... how about this: a "photographer" is a mechanically inclined "artist" ....

[Greg Lockrey]

"Art is concerned about space. Illustration is concerned about things." - Martha, Michael A. Smith's first wife.

I ditto that....

[adam satushek]

Greg Lockrey: "Ok... how about this: a "photographer" is a mechanically inclined "artist" .... " Totally, I agree that they should be....I have seen work that suffers greatly from a lack of mechanical inclination. There is not doubt in my mind that to be a successful photographer one must be somewhat mechanically inclined, its probably part of the reason many of us gravitate toward photography in the first place.

[adam satushek]

William McEwen: "Art is concerned about space. Illustration is concerned about things." - Martha, Michael A. Smith's first wife.

Interesting quote...I'm curious if you might elaborate what you understand it as meaning. I ask because I am having a bit of a hard time deciphering it. I guess I don't understand the distinction between 'space' and 'things.' The way I see it 'things' are just solidified 'space'....and 'space' is just that which is void of 'things.' This may be another discussion........