Black and White Photography is Simple Yet Infinitely Complex

Why I love black and white photography:

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You can shoot black and white anywhere

To start, I think one of the most challenging, fun, and rewarding parts of photography is to find beauty anywhere and everywhere.

Not everything looks good as a color photograph. But almost everything looks good as a black and white photograph.

With color photography, you’re a slave to color. Also, I find you need better light to make nicer color photos.

With black and white, even if your light isn’t good, you can still make good photos!

Simple to learn; lifetime to master

Black and white photography is like chess. A beginner can learn chess in 10 minutes. But to become a chess grand master will take your entire life.

I think the same analogy applies to black and white photography:

It’s very easy to learn black and white photography, but it will take a lifetime to master.

Never stop experimenting

I’m glad I experimented so much with so many different camera formats, films, processing styles, and aesthetics. This ruthless self-experimentation has given me deeper knowledge on the aesthetics of photography and artwork I like.

Ultimately, I like all photography. I like all genres of photography, and all processing styles. I love both color and black and white.

Yet for me at the moment, black and white is the more interesting challenge.

Simple yet infinitely complex

I believe black and white photography is so interesting because the fundamentals are so simple, yet the applications are infinitely complex and challenging. Kind of like the ancient game GO; there’s infinite permutations.