I've always loved black and white photographs in fact most photographers I meet have a similar take on this. For me personally the lack of colour sends my brain into overdrive. I start to notice little details I probably would of missed if they were in colour, for example the details around the eyes are always so much more intense. Maybe that’s why a lot of people feel as if emotions speak through the images, or how’s this for a theory maybe black and white photographs just play tricks on our brains almost like an illusion. Now bear with me I know this sounds slightly absurd but as humans we see in colour and seeing a face in black and white might seem alien to us subconsciously, enough to just hold our gaze slightly longer than if the photograph was in colour resulting in our neurons firing of a few million times more and sending our brain into overdrive.
Did I mention how much I like black and white photography btw :D
Over the years I’ve developed this habit of always turning everything into black and white while editing even if the image is destined to be in colour. Here is a collection of a few of my favorites. I wont go into how I lit them or the technical details, I may do a separate post on each of them breaking down lighting and the processes involved if you like.
