Are Black-and-White Photographs Depressing?

Rain rops / Early Morning -- Baraboo, WI 2009

One thing I have learned in my twenty-plus years as a graphic designer and ad agency creative director is that people respond to color. Color stimulates the senses and has been shown in studies to cause a physical reaction in our bodies.

So, I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I have had two separate exhibition sites in the past year tell me they’d love to display my photographs, as long as the prints are in color rather than black-and-white. The proprietors seemed to feel B&W images were too dismal for the winter months. They wanted color to enliven their customers, rather than B&W, which would have presumably added to the dark and depression of the long winter months.

Robert Frank has been quoted as saying, “Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of despair and hope to which man kind is forever subjected.” Despair and hope. I’m trying to understand this, because I have made the choice as an artist / photographer to pursue my medium in B&W.

The Fading Light -- San Antonio, TX 2005

I have been “artistic” since early childhood, and before photography became my voice of self-expression, I pursued many forms of drawing and painting, but always circled back to the dramatic, simple beauty of black and white. The jet-black Ebony pencil was my favorite tool for drawing.

In the digital age, the choice of color or B&W is an artistic one more than a technical one. Color and B&W photography each present the artist with unique challenges and opportunities. In my opinion, color photos are typically pedestrian – often vivid and lively yes — but still ordinary. More color in a color-saturated world. Whereas B&W photography (when done effectively) can be as dramatic, as powerful, as expressive, and as fully rich and vivid as any color photograph. My argument is not helped by the fact that a poorly created B&W print can appear flat and lifeless, and quality reproduction of B&W photographs in printed publications is difficult because of the limited capabilities of the commercial printing press.

This is the point that I wish those misguided people who see B&W photos as dismal would recognize: B&W photography contains as much “color” as color photography — in the form of tones, details, and textures. If a B&W photograph is captured, processed, and printed superbly, no one will notice the absence of color. In fact, they will realize the addition of color would probably destroy the image – making it less, rather than more. As for me, I will continue to pursue B&W photography, and hopefully achieve excellence some day. With apologies to Mr. Frank, along the way, I plan to tip the scales on the side of hope, rather than despair.

See more of my work at www.keithdotson.com.