Why You Should Try Black & White Street Photography
Reading time: 6 minutes
I used to not be interested in street photography in black & white, we see the world in colour after all so why wouldn’t I always want to capture that with my camera? However over many years of practicing street and travel photography I’ve found that these days I often embrace black & white and it has really given another dimension and enjoyment to my street photography process. Rather than keep that to myself, in this article I’m going to share with you why I think black & white street photography is so powerful, some different ways you can go about it and why you should embrace black & white street photography too.
Why black & white?
Well firstly black & white is timeless, when you shoot in monochrome you’re following in the footsteps of all those 35mm film photographers who pioneered the genre of street photography when black & white was the only option.
Shooting in black & white also removes distraction on the street so you’re not overwhelmed by colour. It can simplify things, reducing the world to tones, contrast, texture and shapes. Even if you usually shoot in colour I definitely recommend trying black & white, you can change things up and add some more skills to your portfolio. Also if you’re a beginner street photographer, black & white can be a great way to get started and learn how to make amazing street photos.
How to do black & white street photography
There are two main ways to go about black and white street photography in my opinion. The first is to go out and shoot as normal but keep your eye out for scenes and shots that might work well in black & white. When I go out on a street photography walk I’m most often attracted to colour and that usually plays a big part in my compositions, but what I also think about when I do this is what might work in black & white too. I ask myself, what is the focus of the image, if what attracted me to the scene wasn’t about colour, and colour doesn’t really work in the composition then I’ll try editing it in black & white when I get home.
The second way is to go out and shoot black & white with intention. You go out with the specific plan to shoot in black & white only and this will inform the way you see and the things you look out for to make great compositions. If your camera allows, you can set it to monochrome so that will help you visualise scenes and the beauty of digital cameras these days means if you do see something all about colour you’ll still capture that info if you’re shooting in RAW. We’ll cover how to edit black & white photos a bit later in the article.
So now we’ve explored a couple of different ways you might want to experiment with black & white street photography let’s dive into the tips that you can use to take your images to the next level. After the tips I’m going to give a few more insights into black & white street photography.
Black & white street photography tips:
Minimalism: You can use compositional techniques like leading lines, rule of thirds, shoot wide, using shapes and negative space which often works great in black & white. Minimalism is also great for beginners as it allows you to stay further away from your subjects which can be less nerve wracking. It also gives you the opportunity to cut out distracting elements and keep shots really crisp and clean.
Creating contrast: Shooting in black & white is all about contrast, so when you’re out look for contrast in light, contrast in shades of colour (which will convert to black and white in post) or use light & shadow to frame or isolate a subject. Pay attention to backgrounds, arranging subjects with space around them.
Mood, grain and grit: Black & white images can have quite strong emotional connotations which is exactly what you want to leverage to create an emotional reaction from the viewer. Try underexposing images, using a high iso or adding grain in post to experiment with mood and mystery. Shooting black & white at night or on a rainy day can be great for this (more about this later).
Find shapes: Looking for shapes and objects you can use to make an interesting composition works really well in the black & white medium. You can use shapes for framing, adding contrast, adding layers and other visual elements to your images.
Focus on story: In black & white you can really put the emphasis on the subject in your images. If you use a longer focal length to compose a scene and leave out contextual information then using black & white can make really reverential and engaging subject driven photos.
Archive dive: I do recommend going through your back catalogue and converting some colour images to black & white to see what you think and give you ideas for what works in black & white and what doesn’t when you’re out on the street. Recently I’ve edited some colour images I wasn’t sure about into black & white and now I really love them.
Set your camera to black & white: This can really help you train yourself to see and think in black and white. It’s hard so go out and practice a lot but by having your camera set in black & white it will make it easier to start seeing your surroundings in terms of shade and contrast rather than colour
Making the most of overcast days with black & white photography
You can get great street shots in any conditions with black & white but bad weather can often add to the mood of your black & white photos. Usually grey overcast conditions can be really boring for street photography but if you shoot in black & white you can still find those contrasts and subjects to make great shots. So next time it’s overcast and you’re not sure about going out, try black & white and see what you come up with.
What to avoid
Trying to improve a mediocre photo by putting it in black & white doesn’t really work - though it can often be tempting to do that. There’s nothing wrong with going back through your archive of images to see if they work in black & white but just blindly desaturating an average image and making it contrasty is not a good idea, rarely will that produce good work - as they say, you can’t polish a turd. Having said that definitely experiment with the tips I’ve mentioned, try some new ideas and in the long run you can add strong black & white composition to your street photography skill set.
Editing
Black & white post-processing on digital files although seemingly simple at first can actually be quite tricky to get right. If you’d like a quick way to get a great analogue 35mm film inspired black & white look to your photos then check out my Lightroom presets. For less than two pints at the pub you can pick up the presets to level up your black & white images and this also really helps support this ad-free blog.
