Research Point - Contemporary Street Photography - Does black and white make a difference.

Having read the noted articles I reviewed a number of images from the listed artists;

In a large number of cases, I found that colour was used by the artist during composition to highlight particular details within the image and it was used as a device to catch the eye and draw in the viewer.

At first black and white photography was used mainly for photojournalism and few of the images were colourised, there would have only been a small number of occasions when this would have thought to have been appropriate. With the advent of colour, photojournalism moved into the use of CYMB printing technology to allow colour images to be printed as the news providers would have been looking for colour images to provide striking, eye catching front page displays to identify themselves from their competitors. However I feel at times that colour can be overused and in some cases the colour diverts the viewer’s eye away from the central narrative.

Certainly the use of colour has help drive photojournalism away from the surreal elements of early photography, as it helps to add realism into the composition.

In the case of Martin Parr he uses irony within his street photography; he uses the idea of britishness as an ironic force to present images where there has been non integration of British people abroad.

Personally I dislike these particular images as I personally feel that Martin Parr is sneering at the uncultured.

Looking over my own recent images I prefer some of the black and white versions to the colour versions as removing the colour has removed some of the distractions and provided a better narrative for the image.