Are black and white photographs just an illusions | Collection of my favourite shots so far

in photography •  7 years ago  (edited)

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.

IMG_3542.jpg

JCP_2152 as Smart Object-1 copy.jpg

JCP_892s3-Edit.jpg

JCP_3322 as Smart Object-1.jpg

JCP_1561.jpg

JCP_2108 as Smart Object-1.jpg

JCP_1664 as Smart Object-1.jpg

_CP_2657-1.jpg

JCP_2226 as Smart Object-1.jpg

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I can see why you like BNW photos when you're so good at creating them!

Thank you so much, i would photograph everything in B/W if i could. i actually have a camera that doesn't come out of the monochrome picture style

Love the photos!

Thank you so much

There is something about portraits in black and white that make them a work of art. Finding those little details happens to me too. I think it's because it's so minimalistic that you can easily see the imperfections and color is so overwhelming and so much information going on that those details just go unnoticed. The portraits are stunning! I can't even pick my favourite.

P.S: Please do a post with the editing process, I would be really interested!

Another fellow black and white lover :) I just keep staring at black and white images the eyes just draw me in

Thank you and yes i was wondering what to do a post on that shall be my next post

Lovely b/w images. Stands simply out of the masses here at steemit...

Thank you for the kind words, Big fan of your work also

OMG these portraits are all amazing!!! I agree b/w definitely forces you to focus on the details and intimacy of photos!! Great post. Thanks for sharing!! @journeyfreedom

thank you so much and yes i agree, its like that saying its all in the details

Those are some fantastic shots, especially that first one. Resteemed!

Thank you very much :)

The first and fourth image tugg at my feels! Beautifully done set you have here.

Here's my approach to Monochrome(Black and White) Photography: I actually image more than 90% of my images in Monochrome. I shoot in Monochrome first and then refer to my RAW files if I recall there being a striking set of colors.

Regarding the psychology of an image, it is my belief that the more primitive areas of the brain are trained to analyze as little visual data as quickly as possible in any given context. As such, the mind first perceives contrast between objects to distinguish shapes. Then additional neurons are employed to perceive color and distinguish contrasts among colors as well. All of this done in the service of fight, flight or survival(hunting or foraging for food items).

I know some of this as it is related to Artificial Intelligence Neural Network classification work. Here there is a huge emphasis on classification costs. The lower the cost the more efficient the classification process. To say it simply - Images devoid of color lead the brain to process the composition more efficiently. OK, I've said too much already! Have a great day!

thank you very much and i kind of do the same i leave my camera in B/W mode and shoot RAW so if i do need the colour its there and WOW really interesting comment, but it makes sense when you think about it we are trained over time how to read images and create links through TV, books and everyday life we have a library of information thats unique to all of us through our experiences.

Meaning we all see the same thing but read it completely differently. But when you take it to the primitive level which is pretty much in our DNA like you said we are designed to visually just be able to separate objects from one another and the faster we were able to do this the better we would of been at hunting and surviving. So yeah maybe black and white photographs streamline this information making it easier for us to process visually.

Really interesting stuff on artificial intelligence you have just given me a new topic to read about man i love learning new things :)

Some beautiful shots and beautiful models .

thank you very much and yes they are all beautiful

These are really good, kudos :-)

thank you very much :)