[slideshow] Black and white photos just work for me.
I don't think I can really explain why but ironically that's what the rest of this rant will be about. I think I may be extremely influenced by my first photo class I ever took at Cardinal Stritch U, an intro to black and white film photography. I was, and still am, captivated by the processes of developing film and making prints in the dark room; it's real magic. There is a certain aspect of authenticity in a black and white image that references hours of physical labor, and a long arduous process.
Black and white images also seem to hold a curious aura of significance. Every old image we've been shown in school since we were a kid has referenced an important historical event or character in society, giving black and white images an inherent impression of gravity, influence, and relevance.
Also I find black and white images strange in that they are possibly the most unrealistic images you could make. We see everything in color so why do we still make, or are intrigued by black and white images? My biggest attraction to them is that they strip away everything routine and familiar from objects we see in color and force us to reexamine them in terms of form, value, and composition.
That was a long way of saying I enjoy making black and white photography but here are a few that I've taken recently as part of a class project where we are meticulously studying and analyzing a particular street in Milwaukee. Each photo is a facade from Old World Third Street.