what is the purpose of black and white photography?

Question

What effect are they trying to create?

Answer 1

a dramatic one. One of contrasts, i would think.

Answer 2

When I first read this question, I had to calm down and remember the words of my 5th grade teacher, "The only stupid question, is the one not asked". So, here's the thing, the purpose of black and white photography is the same as photography taken in color. You're rendering an image in 2 dimensions. Duh. But the thing you must remember is photography started out in black and white, it's not just some obscure photoshop effect. Back when all a photographer had was black and white, they had to force themselves to "see" in black and white. That forces a person to create better compositions, so in a sense, people who have stuck to black and white photography are technically better photographers than those who have it easy in color. And many of them still use film to capture black and white images, because you can't quite capture the same intensity of contrast between highlights and shadows with a digital image sensor. Not every composition is meant to be a black and white image. Black and white images love contrast and texture. This is why it is harder to shoot in black and white. If you learn how to do so, you'll find yourself looking in black and white. There are too many photographers who have little respect for the artform of black and white photography, but I find those people are usually the one's who can't live without photoshop. And they call themselves photographers, whatever...

Answer 3

Black and white causes the focus to be on light and shadow. In the end, it's an aesthetic choice, but the light/shadow effect can create a much more dramatic and atmospheric ambience under certain circumstances. And to choose to work in either one or the other has to do entirely with stylistic preferences. Artists like Mapplethorpe, Sally Mann, and Larry Clark would have had a different mood to their photographs had they elected to work with color, although they could have. Others, like Nan Goldin, could achieve an amazoningly resonant yet ethereal presence using color. Black and white is an aesthetic call, not a philosopical one. It adds an emphasis on contrast. Using one or the other is personal preference.

Answer 4

Black and white photography emphasizes shading, contrast, depth of field, and use of light. The intended 'effect' varies with the individual photographer and the picture. To learn from a true master of the medium, study the work of Ansel Adams.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Originally there was only B&W
In modern times B&W photography is used for artistic effect more than just taking a photo, it's Art

Answer 7

Black & white photos can give a scene very dramatic presentation compared to the same scene photographed in color.

Check out some of Sally Mann's photos to see just how dramatic they are and how well they capture the overall mood of the place.

Remember - just cause it's old don't mean its bad.

Answer 8

different aspect of photography, differnt appearance.... also- at leas tin the traditional film photography- the color picture prints will fade and sometimes become unable to see, whereas black and white will last much much longer and still keep the image intact

Answer 9

Everything the eye sees is a perspective of light and dark, or black and white.
The light and dark is what was first captured on a medium.
Uses of photography

Photography gained the interest of many scientists and artists from its inception. Scientists have used photography to record and study movements, such as Eadweard Muybridge's study of human and animal locomotion in 1887. Artists are equally interested by these aspects but also try to explore avenues other than the photo-mechanical representation of reality, such as the pictorialist movement. Military, police, and security forces use photography for surveillance, recognition and data storage. Photography is used to preserve memories of favorite times, to capture special moments, to tell stories, to send messages, and as a source of entertainment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography
That explains it very well.
And this:
All photography was originally monochrome, or black-and-white. Even after color film was readily available, black-and-white photography continued to dominate for decades, due to its lower cost and its "classic" photographic look. In modern times, black-and-white has mostly become a minority art form, and most photography has become color photography.

Many photographers continue to produce some monochrome images. Some full color digital images are processed using a variety of techniques to create black and whites, and some cameras have even been produced to exclusively shoot monochrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photography
And then there is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
A Persian scientist named Abu Ali Al-Hasan Ibn al-Haitham (965-1039 AD), known in the West as Alhacen, is credited with the discovery of the camera obscura while carrying out practical experiments on optics in his Book of Optics.[1] In his various experiments, Ibn Al-Haitham used the term "dark room". In the experiment he undertook, in order to establish that light travels in time and with speed, he says: “If the hole was covered with a curtain and the curtain was taken off, the light traveling from the hole to the opposite wall will consume time.” He reiterated the same experience when he established that light travels in straight lines. The most revealing experiment which indeed introduced the camera obscura was in his studies of the half-moon shape of the sun’s image during eclipses which he observed on the wall opposite a small hole made in the window shutters. In his famous essay "On the form of the Eclipse" he commented on his observation "The image of the sun at the time of the eclipse, unless it is total, demonstrates that when its light passes through a narrow, round hole and is cast on a plane opposite to the hole it takes on the form of a moon-sickle”.

In his experiment of the sun light he extended his observation of the penetration of light through the pinhole to conclude that when the sun light reaches and penetrates the hole it makes a conic shape at the points meeting at the pinhole, forming later another conic shape reverse to the first one on the opposite wall in the dark room. This happens when sun light diverges from point “ﺍ” until it reaches an aperture and is projected through it onto a screen at the luminous spot. Since the distance between the aperture and the screen is insignificant in comparison to the distance between the aperture and the sun, the divergence of sunlight after going through the aperture should be insignificant. However, it is observed to be much greater when the paths of the rays which form the extremities of are retraced in the reverse direction, it is found that they meet at a point outside the aperture and then diverge again toward the sun as illustrated in figure 1. This was indeed the first accurate description of the Camera Obscura phenomenon.
So I guess its purpose is to entertain and to demonstrate an event or thing in time that occured.

Answer 10

1

Answer 11

What I like about black and white is, you focus on lighting and aesthetics. (I also like that I look less blotchy in black and white photos.)