Black-and-White
Before my visit to the International Center of Photography, I disliked black-and-white photographs. Since photographs were records of life, which was interesting, exciting, and full of variety, they ought to be colorful to reflect the nature of life. I also thought the black-and-white photographs were not powerful because of the lack of variety of colors. When I arrived in the International Center of Photography and learned the exhibitions mostly consisted of black-and-white photographs, I was disappointed. However, I was pleased by the photographs that depicted the varied aspects of the Spanish Civil War and showed people’s genuine feelings, and my personal view of black-and-white photographs changed after I saw the exhibition, “This Is War! Robert Capa at Work.”
The exhibition on first floor showed numerous photographs by two pioneering photojournalists, Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. They captured the pictures in Barcelona and Almeria, Spain. The pictures showed the lives of soldiers and civilians, including soldiers loading cannons, agricultural workers loading food into trucks, and war orphans roaming streets. The first photograph that grabbed my attention was titled “Republican Militia Members, Barcelona.” Ironically, it did not show the brutality of the War but a seemingly atypical day of military life. In the picture, a male soldier was sitting in an armchair and a female soldier was sitting next to him, and they were grinning. They seemed like having a conversation on a hilarious subject, and they had a good time. Through their grins, I felt their optimism about the War. I liked this picture because it also showed a random scene of soldiers’ lives. The photographer captured what they were really doing at the moment, thus, the picture showed their genuine feelings.
As I walked further into the room, I saw some gruesome pictures. Several photographs, which were titled “Refugees from Malaga in Almeria,” showed the despair and dread in refugees’ faces as they were running for their lives. Another photographs showed corpses of air raid victim. When I first looked at the pictures, I thought the men were sleeping on the tables. Only from the description next to the frames, I learned they were dead. I took a close-up look at one picture, and discerned a pool of blood on the table. I was a bit little terrified because the lack of variety of color in the picture diminished its effect. Suppose the pool of blood is red, the picture would strike me and evoked lasting horror. Just few minutes later, I found out the black-and-white pictures could also be powerful when I walked into the exhibition, “This Is War! Robert Capa at Work.”
The two photographs that caught my attention were titled “the Falling Soldier.” Looking at them, I thought to myself, “I was so wrong about black-and-white photographs.” Both pictures showed soldiers who was struck with bullets and falling down to the ground. They were very powerful photographs. The pictures were like daggers that stabbed my heart as if I suffered the excruciating pain of being shot and dying. They were also very depressing, and the colors of black and white intensified the degree of depression. The main backgrounds in both pictures were the skies. If the color of sky blue was shown, it would lessen the effect of the pictures because the large area of warm color would greatly diminish a viewer’s feeling of pain, horror and depression.
After my visit, I have come to the conclusion that both color and black-and-white pictures have their own virtues. Although black-and-white picture cannot show rich detail in comparison with color picture, it can intensify the negative feelings and have strong effect on viewers’ minds.
October 31st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I also went to the ICP several weeks ago. Like you I was moved by the vivid way that the destruction of war was portrayed in these photographs.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:30 pm
In the case of the black-and-white photo of the dead soldier that looked like he was sleeping, the lack of color not only has a strong effect on the viewer, but in this case it is also used to deceive the viewer. If it had color, the photograph would have been more shocking and obvious because the pool of blood would have been more noticeable.
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:51 pm
I really agree with you about the notion of black and white photographs on being very striking to the viewer. The refugees photograph also caught my attention since it was very melancholy and remorseful. Black and white photography really brings out the feeling of times, especially during war.
November 6th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Black and White photography allows the viewer to focus on what is actually happening. The other colors are not present so when you look at the photograph, the background is not a distraction. In my opinion it signals that you must focus on the action of the photograph.