COLOR OR BLACK AND WHITE - THAT IS THE QUESTION. WHETHER IT IS NOBLER TO SUFFER THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF BEING A MONOCHORMIST, OR TO TAKE UP ARMS…

I think this is a good example of the different effect of a color street shot v. black and white rendition. The color shot gives a lot more information, what the colors are of the participants. This tends to place it more into a certain time and place. It is more real in that way. While it brings out the fashion, the skin color, the accessories etc. this also hides some features. The babies eyes, for example, peer out at you in the b&w shot. In fact, all of the expressions are “stronger” in the black and white version. And some things are left out in the b&w version. It’s not as clear that the woman with the baby is a nurse.
When people say that black and white has a timeless quality - I think this is why. Colors, especially in street scenes, but in many other instances, bring you into the present time. The b&w removes these color clues, and the sense of time is not as strong.
The color shot, in twenty years will seem very set in time. The black and white shot, not as much.
Of course, neither one is better or worse - but the effect is different with street shots. If you’re shooting nature, then the colors don’t give this sort of cultural clue as tree colors etc. are pretty much the same in any era.
Well, I think that explains why color has been tougher for street shots; whereas b&w can keep the forms, the expressions etc. without placing them in a particular era unless that’s something you want to do.

There really is no secret formula for creating color shots that have the features of black and white. Yes, I’ve seen all sorts of attempts at it, subduing colors, only using several tones etc. (and I’ve played with them all) but it is a matter of trade-offs. The color street shot is simply going to give more information, and more clues to time, fashion, economic status, race, and all sorts of odds and ends; and the black and white street shot is going to simplify the scene so that expressions, eyes, how people are standing, how the figures are relating or not relating to each other, will be more prominent.
I knew this before on an instictive level. Now I feel I understand what was behind that instinct.
There is a third choice - which is the toned photograph. This keeps the aesthetic elements of b&w in place but gives a feeling of warmth or coolness. Sort of a middle-ground.
(As an aside, neither one of these shots have been carefully prepared - they’re just presets in lightroom. If I were going to choose one to work on it would be the b&w shot. I’d like to bring out the restaurant worker in the background that needs to be lightened up. )
However, just to further complicate things - some images - yes even street shots - are better in color (such as this one below). So - some sort of conclusion is called for - and this is it: it mostly depends on what information is important in the shot. I think that has something to do with how many elements there are. The red lipstick, the blue hat - I think they make this shot more interesting.
And sometimes, there are too many elements to control in the color shot and black and white brings out the important parts (or what you think are important) better.

So my not-so-brief forrays into only color, or only b&w seem to be winding down. I suppose that I’ll simply have to live with the fact that in the future, it won’t be all or nothing, but what works best for the image.
Tags:
black & white photography,
color photos,
digital workflow