Huge debates aroused in college about people feeling separated into two schools of thought – whether black & white photography is somber and depressing, or not. I myself, am a big fan of the discipline, and find it a very appealing way of bringing another dimension to one’s photos. We’re blessed with so many colours, and when the shoot requires the colours to really be impactful and strong, we bring out said colours as vividly as possible. But it’s somewhat of a trend to desaturate especially some fashion- and modeling shots, but black and white photography has been with us since the very beginning of photography, and still to this day it keeps its place strong in the wonderful world of photography. It’s one of the strongest ways to accentuate pattern, texture, features etc, and as one of my few fetishes of great photos are strong eyes, and I love what the monotony does with them.

Black and white photography means the photo will be seen in various shades of grey, depending od the depth of the colours being photographed, and having good contrast makes the picture so much more alive.

I’m a fan of contrast, and extreme degrees of black and white. Making sure that your photo actually has enough substance to push all levels to that extreme, is important, and having good lighting to make sure all detail in the shadow-parts and highlight-part don’t get lost, will ensure for good contrast and photo that will make the viewer look at it again and again.

Yolandi Jacobsz

Black & White Photography