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Thread: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

  1. #61

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    bigdog: "Me, too. As well as threads like this ..."

    I fully agree that many photographers are insecure about their work and its a shame. I'm not sure what you intended by your second comment, but I assure you that my reason for starting this thread is not insecurity. I am just trying to understand why so many people (especially on this forum) seem to prefer B&W while I am the complete opposite.

    I have said for years that your favorite photographer should be yourself, and I can honestly say that I am my own favorite photographer. I prefer my work to that of anyone else. If that is not the case, than you are doing something wrong and should look at why you do the work that you do. However, that is not to say that you cannot have influences and others that admire.
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  2. #62

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    Quote Originally Posted by adam satushek View Post
    bigdog: "Me, too. As well as threads like this ..."

    I fully agree that many photographers are insecure about their work and its a shame. I'm not sure what you intended by your second comment, but I assure you that my reason for starting this thread is not insecurity. I am just trying to understand why so many people (especially on this forum) seem to prefer B&W while I am the complete opposite.

    I have said for years that your favorite photographer should be yourself, and I can honestly say that I am my own favorite photographer. I prefer my work to that of anyone else. If that is not the case, than you are doing something wrong and should look at why you do the work that you do. However, that is not to say that you cannot have influences and others that admire.
    And yet, you've not bothered to share your reasons for choosing color over B&W. You must have very definite and easily articulated reasons, or you wouldn't expect the same of those who choose B&W. I think your thread is a (very) thinly veiled declaration of superiority, not only of color over B&W, but of your photography over everyone else's. Smug, arrogant, and juvenile; you frame the entire medium within your own narrow interpretation of it. You might have more accurately titled this thread: Why my photography is superior to yours (and it's not only because it's in color).

  3. #63

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jay DeFehr View Post
    And yet, you've not bothered to share your reasons for choosing color over B&W. You must have very definite and easily articulated reasons, or you wouldn't expect the same of those who choose B&W. I think your thread is a (very) thinly veiled declaration of superiority, not only of color over B&W, but of your photography over everyone else's. Smug, arrogant, and juvenile; you frame the entire medium within your own narrow interpretation of it. You might have more accurately titled this thread: Why my photography is superior to yours (and it's not only because it's in color).
    Hi Jay, I am very sorry to have offended you. The goal of this thread is honestly so I can gain insight and understanding about the artistic choices of others, I am very sorry if I came off differently. I do not think my work is 'better' than anyone elses, or that color is better than black and white. Its simply what speaks to me. So thats what I do.

    For what its worth, I believe I did explain why I chose color, " I want to represent reality and not get distracted by the materiality of the process. So I guess I shoot color because its there, its how I see, and it seems natural to me. To negate color (use B&W) seems like a conscious departure from reality to me. Which is not what I am attempting with my work."

    Again, I am very to have offended. Just wanted to get into a discussion about this question I have had several years, and was excited to have a lively discussion about artistic choices as opposed to photographic gear. But maybe this is not the correct venue.

    Once again, I sincerely apologize if I have offended you or anyone else, it was not my intent.
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  4. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg Lockrey View Post
    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.
    Wrong comparison. The analogue to the brand of pencil or paint is the brand of camera or film--just a choice of tools and not even central to craft. The difference between B&W and color is like the difference between, say, oil paints and charcoal--a choice of medium. Artists choose one or the other for expressive or practical reasons.

    And wrong in its conclusion, too, at least in my experience--nobody claimed that anyone describes art in terms of craft. I said we define art in terms of medium, which is not the same thing.

    On the subject of craft, photographers talk to photographers about craft because that's what we can talk about, and it's what we share. Painters discuss craft among themselves, too, and so do musicians, even the hippest. Just because you never hear it doesn't mean they don't.

    Rick "who has discussed the craft of music with many world-class performers, despite being no better at music than at photography" Denney

  5. #65

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    Quote Originally Posted by adam satushek View Post
    Hi Jay, I am very sorry to have offended you. The goal of this thread is honestly so I can gain insight and understanding about the artistic choices of others, I am very sorry if I came off differently. I do not think my work is 'better' than anyone elses, or that color is better than black and white. Its simply what speaks to me. So thats what I do.

    For what its worth, I believe I did explain why I chose color, " I want to represent reality and not get distracted by the materiality of the process. So I guess I shoot color because its there, its how I see, and it seems natural to me. To negate color (use B&W) seems like a conscious departure from reality to me. Which is not what I am attempting with my work."

    Again, I am very to have offended. Just wanted to get into a discussion about this question I have had several years, and was excited to have a lively discussion about artistic choices as opposed to photographic gear. But maybe this is not the correct venue.

    Once again, I sincerely apologize if I have offended you or anyone else, it was not my intent.
    I'm sorry Adam -- maybe I'm too cynical. Please disregard my inappropriate reaction, and accept my sincere apology. Sometimes I get it completely wrong.

  6. #66
    David Brown bigdog's Avatar
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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    Quote Originally Posted by adam satushek View Post
    bigdog: "Me, too. As well as threads like this ..."

    I fully agree that many photographers are insecure about their work and its a shame. I'm not sure what you intended by your second comment, ...
    Obviously, it was a comment about the thread and its 60+ posts, not about you. One must not take everything personally.

    Quote Originally Posted by adam satushek View Post
    I can honestly say that I am my own favorite photographer.
    Oh ...

  7. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Rodriguez View Post
    It amazes me how insecure photographers are about their art work.
    Most artists are insecure at some level. That insecurity feeds their quest for insight, and their creative curiosity. In fact, I don't think I've ever known an artist of any caliber who didn't constantly experiment with and hone their expression, and who didn't try to see their work as others do, even if they are deeply committed to their message and their expressive approach.

    Those who are without insecurity often seem to me as either charlatans or megalomaniacs.

    Rick "who knows more painters who question their art than photographers" Denney

  8. #68

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    bigdog: "Obviously, it was a comment about the thread and its 60+ posts, not about you. One must not take everything personally." Sorry I misunderstood that, i often have a difficult time understanding peoples tones in writing.

    And just to clarify, my statement that "I can honestly say that I am my own favorite photographer," while I can see that it can seem arrogant and it is not intended that way. All I mean by that is that the work I make comes from me, and because it does, it speaks to me in a way that is more inline with my ideas than anyone elses work. I know for certain that it is not 'better' because such a statement is so subjective that it is useless. I also do not intent to say by any means that I am not insecure about it in certain ways, or that I am not constantly trying to improve, just that because my work comes from me i have a personal connection to it. That seems natural to me.....but other may have very different opinions on this. I fully recognize that my work is not special or unique, but I make it because I like it and it means something to me.
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  9. #69

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    It's what I like...

  10. #70

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    Re: Why do you shoot Black and White over Color?

    I started drawing before I could write. I have worked with pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, ink and brush on the B&W side. I have worked with chalk, oil pastels, water color, acrylics and oil painting on the color side. When I was in Art school many years ago I don't remember any distinction being made between b&w and color mediums unless it was a Commercial Art project that had to be b&w to save money when it was printed in a magazine. They were all just different ways of expressing yourself.

    I fell into photography by accident and loved it. I'm both artistic and mechanical minded so photography fit me well. To me there is no b&W versus color issue. It's just two different ways to express yourself.

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