Sounds like a basic question: but what’s better for photography or street photography: black and white or color?

To start off, I think both are good for street photography and photography in general.

The more important question to ask yourself is this:

Which aesthetic do I prefer? And for which project?

I think that within a single photography project, it’s a good idea to stay aesthetically consistent within a project. For example for my Hanoi street photography project, I experimented with both color and black and white in the beginning, but then I decided while living and shooting in Hanoi for about a year that I preferred black and white. I shot it all in RAW in RICOH GR II then processed with ERIC KIM MONOCHROME 1600 preset.

So as a takeaway recognize that when you’re shooting a photography project, essay, or just documenting your life; you’re not going to know whether you prefer black and white or color until you start shooting!

Second point: recognize as a photographer, yes you are allowed to bounce between both aesthetics. For some different projects shoot in color. For other projects shoot black and white. There’s no ultimate right or wrong in the philosophy of aesthetics; it’s your choice, according to your own taste!

A practical tip I have is this:

Shoot either color or black and white according to your mood.

What this means is this:

Generally for black and white, the feeling is one of nostalgia, the past, and timelessness.

Generally for color, the feeling is optimism, hope, the future, and “modernness” and a contemporary feeling.

Of course this is just a generalization. But aesthetics do affect your mood.

You can also shoot color film, like Kodak Portra 400 to evoke a more timeless mood.

Similarly, you can shoot black and white in a way which looks very contemporary.

There’s still a lot of unpaved roads in photography and street photography. The genre of street photography only started really in the 1920s with Henri Cartier-Bresson (1920-2018 is only around 100 years). I imagine street photography will be around for at least 2,000+ years (as long as humans have public places). So don’t let cliches of the past hold you back!

For monochrome I really like the work of my friend Josh White. For color, I like my friend Chú Việt Ha.

For the old school photographers, for monochrome I really like Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Weegee, Josef Koudelka, and Richard Avedon. See all Masters >

Classic color photographers include Alex Webb, Martin Parr, Fred Herzog, and Saul Leiter. See all Color Masters >

What does ERIC KIM prefer for street photography?

hearts eric kim street photography black and white neck tattoo downtown la

0-eric kim street photography sweat downtown la

eric-kim-black-and-white-street-photography-downtown-los-angeles-00004-1000x1503443712301.jpg

eric kim black and white street photography downtown los angeles 00001

Side tattoo face. Downtown LA, 2015 Ricoh gr ii

eric kim eye contact street photography downtown la

Downtown LA, 2015

Downtown LA, 2013. Nails.

Simply put, I prefer black and white street photography on digital with RICOH GR II and often with flash. I feel I’ve created an aesthetic I love with the ERIC KIM MONOCHROME 1600 preset with digital.

img_1601-edited-2eric kim grit and grain black and white trix1600

img_1277eric kim grit and grain black and white trix1600

img_1598eric kim grit and grain black and white trix1600

Film Leica MP, f/8, flash at 1/8th power, 1.2 meters

img_1254eric kim grit and grain black and white trix1600

eric kim photography black and white tri x 1600 leica mp 35mm film-1257

eric kim photography black and white tri x 1600 leica mp 35mm film-1216

I still prefer black and white film (Kodak Trix400 pushed to 1600) over digital, but to be frank; my digital monochrome photos look 90% good enough to me, which is more than sufficient.

dark-skies-over-tokyo-eric-kim1-1000x15101108784954.jpg

Also in reviewing my portfolio, I am very happy and pleased with all my monochrome street photography work. I feel I’ve paved enough new roads for myself in black and white street photography, so now I’m more interested in trying to master color street photography for myself as a fun challenge.

Color street photography

eric kim street photography - color - portrait-hands-new orleans-10-1

For myself I see a lot of new excitement in color street photography: both for digital and film color street photography (or even color street photography with phones, shot and processed with VSCO or computational photography), or even in digital medium format color street photography:

NYC mad men, suit, cigarette, Pentax 645z

Selfie in mirror with Pentax 645Z

Blue and green urban landscape. NYC, 2017

Blue and green urban landscape. Nyc, Pentax 645z

Man with glasses crossing the street. NYC, 2017. Pentax 645Z

Woman laughing, NYC 2017

Suit in the bathroom washing his hands at whole foods. NYC, 2017. Pentax 645Z

Man washing hands in bathroom. Yellow background, and face obstructed.

Man cleaning display. NYC, 2017. Pentax 645Z

Man cleaning golden display. His blue glove pops out of the scene. NYC, 2017. Pentax 645Z

Woman in airplane. Sunset over NYC. Pentax 645Z

Yellow Man with hands in prayer. Wisconsin, 2017. Pentax 645Z.

Yellow tones. Man with hands in prayer. Wisconsin, 2017. Pentax 645Z.

Red and car. Urban landscape. Madison, Wisconsin.

Smile. Downtown LA, 2016

Tips

eric-kim-street-photography-suits-color-kodak-portra-400-79478351519189744533433369199.jpg

eric-kim-street-photography-suits-color-kodak-portra-400-144994262686798498494864951093.jpg

eric-kim-street-photography-suits-color-kodak-portra-400-1510470378588273369910651085315.jpg

eric kim street photography suits project 39

eric kim street photography suits project 37

eric kim street photography suits project 31

eric kim street photography suits project 28

eric kim street photography suits project 26

eric kim street photography suits project 19

eric kim street photography suits project 7

eric kim street photography suits project 3

eric kim street photography suits project 2

Lisbon, 2017 #suits

General tips:

Figure out whether you prefer color or black and white for street photography. If you don’t know which you prefer yet; keep experimenting and playing with both until you discover which you prefer.
Don’t get married to one aesthetic for your entire life. Allow yourself to experiment with both formats. After all, you will live a long time as a photographer; never stop experimenting in your photography.
Experiment shooting film; it’s a good learning tool in terms of studying the aesthetics of photography. Also shooting black and white street photography in film will force you to actually see the world in black and white! (learn more in FILM NOTES).
Never settle: Keep discovering new processes to improve the look and aesthetics of your photos!

And ultimately don’t over think street photography too much.

Our final STREETTOGS motto: