Black and white?! BLACK 'N WHITE!

I struggle with shooting in black and white.  On one hand it is considered by many to be the purest form of photography.  I attribute this to a few things.  One, people are curmudgeonly stick-in-the-muds who are scared of the future (and the present) and assume that just because something is old it is somehow better and more pure than something new and modern.  Two, for whatever reason (art-school propaganda, museum snobbery) black and white photography is seen as more serious than color.  Now, keep in mind that I'm a reactionary crank who likes to twist the nipples of people with strong opinions no matter what they might be.  I say that because I suspect I would feel as strongly suspicious of color photography if people in general felt that was more true to the spirit of photography than black and white.  But that's not the case.  So it's good ol' B&W that gets my dander up*.


My Zelig-like personality is sometimes a burden and is never more so than when I'm reflecting on what kind of photographer I consider myself to be.  When I first emerge from my backyard sweat lodge my mind and body free of impurities I know I am a photographer who will pick up whatever machine is closest at hand, be it digital or analog, and use it to craft beautiful images that are mine and mine alone.  That me doesn't care if the results are in color or in black and white.  All other times I swing wildly from one extreme to the other when I ask myself "WTF am I doing with this camera in my hand?"  I'm a genius, I'm a fraud, I'm a professional, I'm a hobbyist, I should shoot in color, I should shoot in black and white...and on and on.


Obviously I need to spend much more time being beaten by my shaman into a Zen-like trance of submission bliss with birch switches while sweat pours from my pores.  But keeping that sweat lodge toasty is expensive and shamans don't work for free so it's up to me to fight the demons of my mind and ego and come up with the answer to who I am as a photographer.


I know what you're thinking: 


-What the heck is he rambling on about?  


-You know what I hate about blogs?  Bull-shit, self-indulgent claptrap like this.  


-Forget photography this guy should write for a living.  


-What does this have to do with black and white photography?  


Those are all great questions.  I'll answer the last one.  I prefer to shoot in color.  *PRETENTIOUS ART-SCHOOLISH SENTENCE ALERT!*  I "see" in color. But now and then I feel a compulsion to take some pictures in black and white to prove to myself and the 6 other people who care about this that I can do it and that I am a "real" photographer.


I just hope Henri Cartier-Bresson is happy.  I see in color.  My God.

The first group of photos are from a project I'm working on based in and around the Alewife T-station, a hulking concrete eyesore that squats on the wetlands down the road from my house.  

The second group is made up of random shots from around town that caught my eye.  As always touch the images and they'll grow.


*Old-timey phrases are better and more pure than new ones.