The Power of Black & White to Tell a Story

I have long moved effortlessly between the world of B&W images and those of color, but to be honest, my heart has always felt the strongest pull from my Monochrom images. I have thought long and hard about this over the years and have continued to come to the conclusion that B&W just tells a story better. There are no distractions in the form of ‘pretty’ colors, but instead the distillation of exactly what the photographer intended the viewer to say.

This is not to say that color can’t do the same, but for me, I think when my goal is to tell the story of something or someplace, my preference is the use of simple and direct Monochromatic images. In the beginning, for me, this was through the use of my favorite film stock, Kodak TMAX. I could shoot that film everywhere and it just worked, producing strong blacks and crisp whites. That film stock definitely set my eye towards a very specific style of imagery.

Fast forward to the age of digital, where it is the simple click of a button to go from color to monochrome, I still longed for the equivalent of my TMAX. When in 2014 I acquired the Leica Monochrom, I finally found it. The sensor, devoid of color, produced the most amazing B&W images of any camera that I have owned. The tonality and texture were exactly what I longed for. While this camera and its CCD sensor are somewhat outdated in 2020, it is still one of the finest B&W imaging machines ever.

I sold mine a few years ago, in a quest for the latest and greatest, and to this day, regret that decision. I am now on what is surely a long list of people waiting to acquire the M10M, the third iteration of Leica’s Monochrom cameras. It appears to have finally taken the capabilities of the M9M and moved them to the next level. I am optimistic that I will acquire one before my winter Adventure Workshops begin.

In the fall of this year I will also announce my first international bikepacking photo workshop to Ireland and land that is so effortlessly traveled by bike and best photographed in Black and White. Sign up for the newsletter for early access.

The streets of Galway are alive with street performers everywhere you look

The rugged coastline of the southwest of Ireland, best explored by bike

What are your thoughts on color versus black and white, especially as it relates to story telling.