Artspan Portal: Black & White Photography

Introduction to Black & White Photography

Photography could be said to date back to the late 10th century, with the invention of the camera obscura (and even further back to the pinhole camera). With the discovery of silver nitrate, silver chloride, and with experimention in light and chemical reactions, the stage was set for the usable process of photography. French inventor Louis Daguerre developed the daguerreotype at approximately the same time that William Fox Talbot was doing similar experiments in England. Many inventors added to each other's findings, and it was Alexander Wolcott who, in 1840, received the first American patent in photography. Since then, black and white photography has changed the face of art and established an entirely new way of seeing in the arts and media. Photojournalists like Capa, Eisenstadt, and Bourke-White caught the public imagination with their black-and-white images of the world. And art photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams drew our attention to the forms and shapes of nature, set into high contrast through monochrome. For over 60 years, all photographs were in black and white but by 1903 the technology to create color photos had developed, relegating black and white photography to a new role. Despite the popularity of color, black and white photography remained coveted and honored, delivering a unique authority and beauty to art photography and documentary photography. It is also cost-effective and a good teaching tool which is why photography students still cut their teeth in black and white photo labs.
 

Featured Members

 

Newest Work

 
Jane Bennett
Edward  Ries
Suzanne Stevenson
Rowena Rubio
Rachel Lee Young
Eli Geller
Ellen Grenell

Resources: Black & White Photography

Art Suppliers (see all)
Adorama
One of the largest photo retailers and mail order suppliers; serving photographers with cameras,...
American Photographic Resources Inc.
The leading supplier of props, backgrounds, studio lighting equipment, photo frames, and photo...
B & H Photo, Video, & Pro Audio
The Professional's Source of Digital Cameras, 35MM Camera Equipment, Photo Printers and more.
Associations (see all)
Alaska Society of Outdoor and Nature Photographers
Anchorage, AK
Educational non-profit organization dedicated to promoting public education,...
Boston West Photographic Society
Framingham, MA
Calgary Photographic Society
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Books (see all)
Advanced Black & White Digital Photography (A Lark Photography Book)
Digital photographers can now attain the enduring beauty of black-and-white photography in their...
Anton Corbijn: Star Trak
 
Best of Black and White: Erotic Photography
Does anybody really know the "next-generation photographers," the successors to Newton,...
 
Education (see all)
International Center Of Photography
New York, NY
Certificate in Photojournalism
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
MFA in Creative Photography
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
MFA Art and Design
Education (see all)
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Bloomfield Hills, MI
MFA in Fibers Arts
Memphis College of Art
Memphis, TN
MFA in Fiber/Surface Design
Parsons: The New School For Design
New York, NY
MFA in Photography
Galleries (see all)
Anderson Photo Gallery
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
A commercial gallery featuring contemporary fine art photographers...
Brancolini Grimaldi Arte Contemporanea
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy
Represents several of the most important photographers.
ClampArt
New York, NY
Specializes in a broad range of Modern and Contemporary Paintings, Prints, and...
 
Museums (see all)
American Museum of Photography
A virtual museum.
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Budapest, Hungary
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publications (see all)
Black and White Magazine
A high-quality journal for collectors of fine photography.
EyesCoffee.com
Black and White Photography Magazine Made in HongKong.
Lenswork
Lenswork is a book-quality, paper-based, anthology-style periodical publication which focuses on...