In the city, the morning hustle looks at the black-and-white photography genre which remains a choice for many photographers and artists looking for nuances of the creative process and the emotional impact the images evoke. Black-and-white photography allows photographers to explore and concentrate on contrasts, shadows, and highlights, and stronger emotional responses from the viewer.
The genre is often perceived as timeless. Its ability to evoke emotion through tonal contrast continues to inspire both photographers and viewers alike. It has transcended other eras and trends and has remained a staple since the inception of photography. Just for the trial, these images here were shot on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 mounted with an M.Zuiko Digital 17mm 1:2.8.
Black-and-white photography can be traced back to its origin in 1826 with the first permanent photograph taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1785-1833) using heliography. This was followed by Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) and the daguerreotype process in 1839 and later works by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) who contributed to the development of photographic processes, including calotypes, and the concept of negative-to-positive printing.
The flourish of black-and-white photography in the early 20th century as an artistic and documentary medium includes credits to the works by Ansel Adams (1902-1984), Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), and other iconic notables. Ansel Adams, in particular, is renowned for his breathtaking landscapes of Yosemite National Park. Cartier-Bresson, often called the father of photojournalism, captured candid moments that reflected the human condition within the living environment.
The genre took a leap forward with the introduction of the 35mm film roll by Oskar Barnack (1879–1936) in 1925, making photography more portable and accessible to the whole community. Even with the advances of color film and its associated development in the genre, black and white remained a preferred choice for many serious photographers. Currently, we are also seeing the resurgence of timeless aesthetics through the works of contemporary photographers like Sebastião Salgado (1944-), Sally Mann (1951-), and Michael Kenna (1953).
In the digital realm, pointers to acquiring a greater mindset for black-and-white photography include the notion of capturing images in color and then converting them to black and white, shooting in RAW to preserve image details and flexibility in post-processing, keeping the ISO setting low to avoid digital noise, avoid from burning out highlights or blocking shadows, looking for scenes with contrasting textures, distinct shapes, or dramatic lighting, and using the Zone System to adjust the lens aperture based on the subject matter, as developed by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer to help with film exposure and development.
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