The fraud of black and white
It is the cheapest trick in the book, making mediocre photographs look better by showing them in black and white. Certainly, black and white can transform mundane and often second-rate photos and imbue them with potency, profundity, timelessness, desolation, mystery and beauty. That is why black and white is to some in the visual arts world what bacon is in the culinary one; everything tastes better with it.
However, when photos are filtered into black and white it rings alarm bells because it declares instantly that the original images were not good enough to show in their natural state; that is to say, color. Humans see in color. The world is in color. Our lives are in color. And so any artistic expression, form or representation that distorts or changes reality, such as using black and white, must be treated with caution and used sparingly.
There are undoubtedly many occasions when black and white used as a creative device can be fabulous and give something to a photograph that reality either misses or conceals. It can bring out the magnificence of an object, person or scene, or highlight a unique perspective, by allowing light and shadow to interact so effectively. Nevertheless, it must always be understood and acknowledged as artifice. It is never reality but a contrived version of it.
Therefore, the worst and most problematic offenders regarding monochrome tend to be those working in the field of documentary photography. Here, using black and white is not merely a simplistic and easy method to enhance the potency of an image but a more pernicious betrayal of the reality they are purportedly seeking to show. Yes, the image of the homeless man, brothel, boxer, boardroom, or ghetto gang, may look great in black and white but let’s not pretend it is exploring, documenting or capturing anything real. On the contrary, it is actually obscuring and hiding reality behind a veil. It is not truth but a form of deception. It is not authenticity but corruption.
Crucially, the best photographers rarely need to use such contrivances. They can capture and create art, beauty, power, profundity and truth working with the world as it is, as we see it, without the contrived gimmick of black and white.
