Unique Selling Point – 5
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I’m big on black and white photographs
I’m almost reluctant to list this as a USP. A lot of photographers prefer to produce b/w photographs.
Still, my preference for b/w does part defines me as a photographer, so I decided to include it.
B/w suits what I do. My photography is all about the story. Often colour can be a distraction, particularly if there is a splash of red in the picture. We are drawn to red above all other colours – there’s a reason stop lights and brake lights are red. And that can get in the way of what a photograph is all about.
By taking out the colour, the story often gets a better chance to breathe.
There are photographers, some very influential and significant, who will tell you this is all hokum. Jay Maisel calls b/w photography an insider joke, a private jape between photographers. A step away from reality. After all, the world is colour, not b/w.
Steve McCurry, one of the great photojournalists, shoots exclusively in colour. As does Martin Parr. And there are others.
Maisel, McCurry and Parr are legends. Maybe it’s just too hard for a mortal like me to shoot colour documentary photographs. I mean, my brain is at full load when it’s limited to just subject, narrative and light. Conceivably, it might start to bleed out of my ears if I asked it to do colour as well.
In the meantime, I’m drawn to b/w.
