Black and White Photography

Black & White Photography has its own place in the art world and many of the greatest photographers specialised in this field. It does more to evoke an emotion and freeze a moment in time than any other medium and has helped elevate it to a fine-art form. The subtle tones of grays, the strong emphasis of the blacks, and the softness of the whites makes one look much closer at the subject and composition due to the lack of natural colour. Emotions are always much easier to portray with black and white, because of the stark contrasts and the sharp focus on the subject matter.

The very first cameras produced black and white images and it was many years after the first pinhole camera that colour images were created. Even after colour film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its classic photographic look. It is important to note that some monochromatic pictures are not always pure blacks and whites, but also contain other hues depending on the process. The Cyanotype process produces an image of blue and white for example. The albumen process which was used more than 150 years ago had brown tones like the common sepia effect.

When colour film became available to everyone in the seventies, black and white photography became second rate for the public and almost disappeared from view. Thankfully today the wonderful quality of black and white pictures is back in fashion as photographers use this technique to create impact in their shots and enjoy the beauty that a colourless image brings. Just think how emotive a bride can look in black and white compared to colour? Even landscape photography can appear more dramatic in monochrome. Today there are even DSLR camera being made that only shoot in black and white!

Sometime black and white photographs bring out the tones, the textures and the emotions of an image far better than colour which can distract the eye from the true subject matter. It is art, plain and simple. Once you remove the colour from a photograph it's like stripping a scene down to the bare bones, removing the layers and leaving the perfect form.

There have been many famous photographers that specialise in black and white photography such as Ansel Adams, Cartier-Bresson, Sebastiao Salgado and Nick Brandt. From a nature point of view Nick's work is simply breathtaking - see his African landscape and wildlife images for monochrome techniques that are out of this world!

At Fotoviva we have a strong collection of black and white and monochrome images from several photographers around the world. Seascapes, Landscapes and Fine Art Scenes provide the inspiration for our black and white collection. Jonathan Critchley has some wonderful examples of seascape black and white photos that have a contemporary feel to them. Andrew Gibson has his own unique gritty style of black and white travel photography that inspires.

Take a look through our Black and White Photography section for inspirational prints for your walls. All are available printed on canvas, poster or acrylic mounted in a range of sizes.