Black and white or color

What color adds

In street photography, color can be the reason you take a photo. Think of that yellow umbrella among the black ones. Color makes the difference visible. Remove it, and you might also remove what caught your interest.

Color tells you something about the mood and the setting. It can bring parts of a photo together, for example when the same color appears in several places. Your eye finds a connection that might be less obvious without that color.

But color also carries associations. Yellow can feel positive, but it can also feel overstimulating. The same color can have a very different effect depending on what else is happening in the photo.

That doesn't mean a color needs a fixed meaning. You don't need an explanatory sign next to a yellow jacket. Focus on what that color does in this particular photo.

When color gets in the way

Sometimes a color draws attention when you want to show something else. You look at a person, but your eye keeps returning to a patch of color at the edge. That patch might be quite appealing on its own. You just had a different photo in mind.

Notice where you look first. And where your eye goes next. Does the color help you read the photo, or do you get stuck on something you consider secondary?

A black-and-white version can help you explore that. If the distraction disappears and the person stands out more, you have something to work with. If the photo mainly becomes flatter and less clear, color was apparently doing something useful too.

That doesn't make color a problem to solve. Sometimes that busyness is exactly what's interesting. It just helps to know what you're choosing.

What black and white leaves behind

Black and white is a deliberate limitation. You remove color, allowing light, shadow, and the person to get more attention. Texture and expression become more visible when color no longer gets in the way.

A face can make a different impression as a result. You look at the expression, the lines, the light on the skin. Posture can also become more apparent when the color of someone's clothes demands less attention.

I almost always make my portraits in black and white. To me, black and white doesn't age. That's a preference, not a rule for every photo that happens to have a person in it. My portrait work doesn't carry quite that much authority.

So look at what that limitation brings to a street photo. Does the expression stand out more? Does a shadow get more room? Or do you miss the mood the colors brought to it?

Black and white can reveal more by leaving something out. But you need to be able to do without what you leave out.

Colors become shades of gray

Removing color doesn't remove everything it was doing in the photo. Each color becomes a shade of gray during conversion. That also changes the differences between parts of your photo.

Two areas that are easy to distinguish in color can become roughly the same gray in black and white. Think of a jacket against a wall. In color, you can immediately see where the jacket ends. If the jacket and the wall become the same shade of gray after conversion, that boundary can become less clear.

Conversely, a difference between light and dark can remain even when the colors disappear. A person, for example, can still stand out clearly from the background.

When converting, look beyond the overall impression. Check the edges of your subject. Can you still distinguish hands from clothing? Does a face remain visible against the background? Does that umbrella still play the same role it did in color?

Adjusting the conversion lets you explore how light or dark different colors appear as shades of gray. Keep assessing the whole photo as you do this. Making a jacket stand out more is useful, but look at what happens to other parts too.

So choosing black and white also means looking at color. You just end up with gray.

Two versions side by side

If you're unsure, try making a color version and a black-and-white version of the same photo. Put them side by side and describe exactly what changes.

Start with what caught your attention. Was it a difference in color, a facial expression, or the shape of a shadow? Then see which version brings it out most clearly.

Pay attention to what you lose too. A face might look less busy in black and white, while a color that connected the person to the setting disappears. Then you have a choice to make. Both versions can have something going for them.

You can ask yourself a simple question: what do I want someone to see in this photo?

The answer doesn't need to be a whole story. “That expression” is enough. So is “that yellow.”

One photo or a series

With a single photo, you can base the choice entirely on that photo. In a series, how the photos work together also matters.

So lay them out together. Color might connect the photos through certain colors that recur. Or black and white might better suit the focus on faces or shadows that runs through the whole series.

A conversion that works well for one photo won't necessarily have the same effect on all the others. Look at each photo individually, then at the whole set again. Check whether your choice supports what connects the photos.

You can also explore combining color and black and white. There's no fixed rule to decide that for you. See what happens when you put them side by side.

My article on creating a series explains how a recurring subject can develop into a series. The choice between color and black and white can evolve along with it.

You don't have to decide today what you'll always do from now on. This photo is enough for now.