Black and white photography is soooo versatile!

Black and white photography is a photographic genre that is more versatile than it first seems. Purely monochromatic photos consist of all the shades of grey between black and white, but I include photos that have a slight tint in this category as well.

Black and white photos must have a clear design: lines, structures, textures, just as they occur in architecture, for example. The casting of light and shadow is crucial, which is why portraits, landscape photos, photos of fog, or those that are creatively blurred also make for suitable subjects. In contrast, photos that primarily subsist on a variety of colours are rather unsuitable.

Whether a colour photo or a black and white photo will work better depends on the composition of the image. The more layered a photo is, the more colour it needs to achieve impact.

The subject must clearly stand out against the background. Photos that have a lot of individual details tend to benefit from being in colour so that we can tell what’s in the picture. It is therefore important that the subject can be quickly identified.

Of course, the usual rules of composition also apply to black and white photography – elements such as shape, position, or contrast become even more important when colour is no longer a factor.

Black and white photos look particularly attractive and meaningful with an appropriate picture frame when on a wall. The frame’s border can be either white or black. Several photos, hung next to one another on the wall and with a similar subject, can look especially decorative.

The software industry today has a whole range of filters available that you can use to good effect in the black and white genre. On your mobile phone, there are built-in correction curves under Edit > Filters that convert photos to black and white or monochromatic with a tap of your finger. Hardcore advocates may mean only grey tones when talking about black and white photography – personally, I like to play with all the black and white variations of design.

So, I will sometimes colour pictures in a little to enhance the effect. In Photoshop, these techniques can be found under Split Toning or Colour Grading.

Using smartphones, there are many ways to convert a photo to a black and white drawing. Just look for apps that have the words “drawing” or “sketch” in their name. The effects you can achieve as a result are sometimes more, sometimes less believable. Many apps suggest the drawing style in the surrounding space in particular; the actual image often remains as a photo.

When there are unwelcome colour casts in interior spaces, converting the image to black and white can be a solution. Particularly in mixed lighting situations, you have daylight and artificial light that are rarely in balance with one another. With black and white images, colour casts are no longer an issue.

Creating new imagery means combining several techniques. For example, I documented a visit to the Handegg power station (Grimsel region) with my mobile phone. The visitors all wore a yellow high-visibility vest. The exposure time was three to four seconds in each case, and both the people in the image and the camera were moving each time the picture was taken. The random shots show an artistic style and develop their own visual language.