Landscape Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

8. Black-and-White Images

Examining the Rich Tradition and Today’s Potential of Black-and-White Landscapes

Black-and-white photography has a long and important tradition because it’s where photography began—there was no other option. Black-and-white images were the “standard,” something everyone shot. When color appeared, the black-and-white medium became the “special” way of shooting and gradually became the poor relation to color. Today, color is the standard and usual way of shooting, and black-and-white photos are special.

Black-and-white photography has experienced a resurgence as an elegant and rich way of interpreting a subject, and that’s ...