“Black and white are the colors [sic] of photography. To me they symbolise the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.” - A quote by Robert Frank, a street photographer and film-maker who is most known for his photographic work “The Americans” (1958).

In my very first term of university, we were not only made to shoot solely on film cameras, but to shoot only with black and white film. This was to ensure we thought not only about form whilst shooting, but tonal range as well. When there is no pop of strong colour to dominate the frame, how can you make it so that your photograph is still interesting? How can you communicate what you are trying to say when there aren’t the connotations of
certain colours to speak for you?

Black and white photography is usually now an afterthought in the world of digital photography - have one
version in colour and then try black and white as a second alternative.

However in my opinion, black and white offers a timeless, classy aesthetic that really changes how people interact with the photograph, often creating potent emotion (hence why it is used so often in wedding photography). It is also used in fine art to create a certain distance from the image to the viewer, as we don’t see our world in B&W, we approach the images (or paintings) differently and I believe it encourages us to think perhaps more about what it is saying rather than what it is.

I am just about to put in an order for more B&W 35mm film, and I encourage you to do the same! Trust me, if you take photographs of your friends in black and white film, print them off and put them in a photo album, you will be thanking me 10 years down the line when you look back on them, and you all look even more elegant than you even remember! (Even if you are in your pyjamas!).

Even if you don’t own or don’t know how to use an analogue camera, Boots sell a disposable (27 exposures) for £10 which you can take to any day out at the park/party/family gathering: http://www.boots.com/ilford-black-and-white-disposable-camera-27-exposures-10193172?cm_mmc=bmm-_-Google%20Boots%20PLAs-_-(GB:Whoop!)%20Boots%20Shopping%20-%20Category%20-%20Photo-_-(GB:Whoop!)%20Boots%20Shopping%20-%20Category%20-%20Photo&product=10193172&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhrzLBRC3ARIsAPmhsnVdKmt6k3HmrTUcr8N-y0GvQwSzxFwKN_PrqF0WhiycnLOLNUnPWQYaAokKEALw_wcB

The photographs I have put up here are just (very) random selections from first year. They are not meant to be anything special, but I do like how they seem to immortalise memories from 2 years ago.