How colour shifts meaning of a photo

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

I would like to submit to you this photo. First is the original in colour, second is B&W conversion:

In the colour version, the attention is grabbed by the jacket, the colours (blue white and gold), and the crisp rendition of the Summicron lens.

In the B&W version, the attention shifts immediately on the face of the girl instead.

The consequence is that the colour photo is perceived as a "genre" photo, representation of a public event, colourful etc.

On the contrary, the B&W photo is perceived more as a portrait. The face of the girl, finally commending attention, takes us to think about who may she be looking at, what could be in her mind, etc.

A simple B&W conversion can really, under certain circumstances, change not only the face but also the "inside" of a photo.

I am realizing that practicing B&W conversions is very useful also for our colour photography. We may not keep (and probably will not keep) the B&W experiments, but our colour photography will become more conscious and aware of what is working in a photo and where does it take us. And this ultimately will lead us making better photo choices from the start.

Katastrofo · Expire: 2013-11-19

I've always liked doing B&W conversions, just to see how it might change
the picture's personality. In yours, the B&W pulls the subject out away from
the background more I think, along with drawing the attention to the face.

She's babelicious, luv a girl in uniform! Wink

Unfortunate crop at the
bottom, BTW, would've liked to have seen the "whole ensemble". Laughing

Prometheus · Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 878 Location: Garphyttan, Sweden

I also think the people in the background is more "in the background" in the B&W. Nice!

Good idea for a forum also, "Art Talk".

A G Photography · Joined: 11 May 2008 Posts: 1480 Location: Bologna - Italy

I agree Orio, but take in counts that the B&W conversion has more balanced tones than the coloured one where the girl has everything except a good light on her face.

Btw, this forum section is a GENIAL idea.

maddog10 · Expire: 2015-02-12

Excellent demonstration Orio, it helps me to understand a bit more of the philosophy of photography.

Puplet · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 410

A good point - but how about the way different black and white conversions of the same picture look? I find that fascinating too.

fotomachi · Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 1:07 pm Post subject:

Am I the only one who thinks the focus in the B/W does not shift to the face? Attention - for me - remains at the jacket, especially in the B/W.

Sjak · Joined: 29 Sep 2017 Posts: 696

I was digging in this part of the forum and ran across this old thread.
Very valid demonstration! Having shot for 6 months almost exclusively with a dedicated B&W-camera (which does not register colour-information at all) a side-effect is that I have become a lot more aware of colour too, in particular what it adds to a scene, but also what it sometimes takes away.

16:9 · Joined: 04 Apr 2014 Posts: 311 Location: UK