Thinking in black and white
Removing colour is not enough: black and white organises tones and textures.
Black and white is an arrangement
Working in black and white is not simply a matter of removing colour after taking a photograph. The eye must find other ways of distinguishing subjects: brightness, form, texture, depth, outlines and rhythm. A red shirt and a green wall may become two similar greys; a very colourful scene may lose its structure. Before releasing the shutter, look for what will remain legible without hues. The result may be soft or contrasty, precise or grainy. None of these choices automatically produces a strong photograph.
Understanding tones and separation
A tonal value is the degree of brightness in an area, from black to white. Look at how two neighbouring areas differ. A light figure in front of a dark façade stands out easily; against a bright sky, it may merge with the background. Move before changing your settings. A different position may create more convincing separation than a general increase in contrast. On a print or screen, then look for transitions between tones: intermediate greys can make a texture legible and connect the composition’s main masses.
Choose what the shadow tells
Shadow can simplify an image, but it can also hide an essential detail. Before deepening a black, ask what you are removing: a face, information about a place, a gesture, a relationship between two people. Very deep blacks are a choice, not proof of mastery. Look at the photograph at a small size: if the reading depends on a detail that has become invisible, you may need to reconsider the processing. Conversely, a dark area without detail can become a useful shape if it truly structures the image.
Direct light, overcast skies and backlighting
Direct light casts shadows with sharp edges. An overcast sky often distributes light more evenly and makes subtle surface tones visible. Backlighting can turn a person into a silhouette, highlight an outline or create reflections. These effects depend on the time, place and your position. Learn about them in familiar surroundings rather than collecting formulas. Photograph the same wall at different times; compare how an opening, a texture or a passer-by becomes legible. Knowing the place expands your range of decisions.
Look at the work without copying its processing
Compare photographs by Eugène Atget, Dorothea Lange and Alan Schaller. First examine their distance from subjects, the distribution of elements and relationships between planes. Do not reduce their approach to a contrast curve or a software preset. A screen reproduction may differ from a print, and several prints from the same negative can produce distinct readings. Note reproduction conditions when known. Your own work will benefit more from adopting a question about seeing than from reproducing an image’s superficial appearance.
Process without making everything spectacular
When starting from a colour file, conversion settings alter how hues become greys. Work with restraint: a local adjustment may introduce useful separation, but it can also make a face or sky look artificial. Compare regularly with a simple version. Assess highlights, shadows and transitions at the intended display size. In documentary work, an intervention should not change the meaning of the facts shown. In creative practice, explain your choices when the process is central to the reading.
Exercise: one place, two kinds of light, six images
Choose an area you can easily return to. Make three images in overcast weather, then three in more directional light. Keep a comparable focal length and explore three relationships: subject and background, texture and light, silhouette and space. The next day, choose one photograph from each session. Explain what the light changed without using “more beautiful” or “more dramatic”. Then make a pair of prints or two views at the same size. A fair comparison lets you judge the construction rather than only the impression made by a screen.
Glossary and common mistakes
Contrast: the difference between tonal values; highlight: a bright area; shadow detail: information still visible in a dark area; silhouette: a form read mainly through its outline; grain: the visible structure of an analogue image or a similar effect. Digital noise is not automatically grain. Nor should sharpness be confused with precision of observation. Frequent pitfalls include blocked shadows everywhere, halos around edges, exaggerated textures and applying the same effect to every image. A coherent body of work also allows the variations each scene requires.
An original Luisour guide. The exercises are learning suggestions, not statements of the photographers’ intentions.