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Fine art in B&W vs Color


9 years 2 weeks ago #433517 by Photo Mojo
Is there any preference when it comes to fine art photography in B&W vs Color? You would think B&W would be more versatile as it will match more interiors.  For obvious reasons, B&W goes back much further than color.  So it has some traditional roots.  

I'd be curious of gallery sales numbers and how do they compare.  Any chance anyone has such data? 
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433537 by Hassner
Art is defined by the end result. As soon as you ask what sells better, it is not art, it becomes commercial.
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433542 by garyrhook
:agree:

Yes, B&W goes back further than color for photography, but painting goes back even further.

It's all about vision, not the color palette.
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433635 by Pierce Steenken
Personally I prefer B&W
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433650 by Don Fischer
I always figured if it's fine art, it must be B/W. 
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433670 by Joves
 No Don that is not the case. If it is at the level that it is being called fine art, then whether it is color, or B&W is of no consequence at all. It is the quality of the image that counts, nothing more, nothing less.
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433700 by Robert Chen
:agree:    plus preference.  But then again, is it me or is the younger generation more interested in color prints?   
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433747 by Don Fischer
Younger generation? My mother turn's 90 this month and she has always preferred color! Local rancher here, 71 yrs old and is also a B&W nay say'er! I think to get a great B&W photo is harder than a good color photo. Funny, in the art world of paint, you get the artist total impression of what he saw. I haven't seen a lot of art work but I don't recall ever seeing much in b&w. Some of my own photo's in B&W Are some of my favorite's. I got them by accident! As much as I like them, I don't see well, especially in B&W. So they have come about than's to digital. I usually change a photo to B&W just to see how it look's. I think the term "fine art" is greatly over used. Clyde Butcher doe's fine art, IMO he's as good as it get's! Look at his stuff and Ansel Adams stuff. Mostly it's landscape's of one thing or another. I have not seen a Butcher or Adams photo in color!
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433959 by Shadowfixer1
Ansel did a ton of color work. Most people are only familiar with his B&W and have no idea how much he did in color.
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9 years 2 weeks ago #433965 by KCook

I haven't seen a lot of art work but I don't recall ever seeing much in b&w. 

Fine art started off with coloring the walls of caves and ceramics.  These works were often of a single color, just not always black.  Then came wall murals, usually color, and canvas, also usually color.  B&W etchings and pen-and-ink did not pick up speed until the wide spread use of paper.  By that time color paintings were firmly established as the mainstream of fine art, etchings and pen-and-ink did not make much of a dent in the market.  But the art of etchings and pen-and-ink have been taught in art schools for centuries now, still is taught.

Kelly Cook
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9 years 2 weeks ago #434112 by J Photo Man

Hassner wrote: Art is defined by the end result. As soon as you ask what sells better, it is not art, it becomes commercial.



Good post
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9 years 2 weeks ago #434182 by Frisco
It's all a matter of preference.  Some places B&W will work best and others it's all about color.  I don't think any generation is stuck with one or the other IMO.  
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