Color has been around since the mid-1800s. But black and white photography has always ruled the fine art world.
The first color photograph made by the three-color method suggested by James Clerk Maxwell in 1855, taken in 1861 by Thomas Sutton. The subject is a colored ribbon.
There are several reasons for black and white photography’s dominance in the fine art photography world including:
- Archive stability – color images tend to fade more than black and white photographs and colors fade at different rates. Reds seem to fade faster leaving behind blue/green casts in color photographs.
- A different way of seeing – black and white photography focus on just lights and darks rather than the full wavelength of light we are used to seeing. Black and white photography appears to be an abstraction of the real world.
- Black and white photographs strip away distracting colors and allow the focus to be on the subjects and the light itself.
For some, black and white photography use in-home or office decor has advantages including:
- Black and white photography can project a clean modern image.
- Black and white photography can be grouped together and coordinates between individual photographs.
- Black and white photograph can project a retro image.
- Black and white photography can coordinate well with the furniture.
Good black and white photography makes up for a lack of color with a strong subject, plenty of contrast, beautiful detail, and mid-tones.
Plenty of modern directors have chosen black and white cinematography even when color was readily available simply for the look it provides. Some notable modern movies in black and white include:
- Raging Bull (1980)
- NEBRASKA (2013)
- Mad Max: Fury Road Black and Chrome Edition (2016)
- The Lighthouse (2019)
- Ed Wood (1994)
- Pleasantville (1998)
Even some TV shows have gone with black and white even when color was available such as the Adams Family and Munsters.