Minima Magazine (1999)
The Charm of Black and White Photography
Black and white photography was an automatic choice for me, one that I never questioned since I realized that this art would fill my life. However, by the mid-1970s, color photography seemed to have prevailed, dethroning black and white in most areas. This was contributed to by the near-total spread of color in fashion and advertising, and also the new importance that galleries gained for photography, which was then making its first commercial steps in the art world. Gallery owners, influenced by the painting they were familiar with and noticing that the public bought color photographs much more easily, bolstered the new trend towards color imagery.
The truth is that black and white photography never surrendered. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the wider public, it was associated with scenes of social misery. This is not far from the perception of radio stations that classical music fits mourning broadcasts. We, who loved and still love black and white photography, because we believe it is capable through its abstraction to indirectly reproduce an unlimited number of colors, never assigned it a limited role. We simply see it that way. Thus, we preserve the mystery of the world's transformation on photographic paper. However, we lived with the fear that the widespread adoption of color photography would involuntarily drag us along with it.
But it seems that we counted without the public's need for change and the foresight of the photographic industry. Instead of succumbing to the trend of high sales of color materials, in recent years it has been improving and multiplying black and white materials, aiming to reach even the audience of "one-hour" machines. Commercial photography also realizes that the color bombardment, both in print and on screens, tends to dull the interest of readers and viewers. Even couples agree with their photographer to have "a few" black and white photos.
Thus, there are increasing signs of a gradual return to black and white, likely not to dethrone color, but merely to maintain balance and demonstrate the naivety and dogmatism of those who describe black and white photography as "outdated." In art, and especially in the art of the late twentieth century, which is in touch with all its past and present at every extent, the term "outdated" is inappropriate and unproductive. Everything is acceptable and entirely contemporary if the artist using it manages to charge the work with meaning. And it appears that more people are now realizing that the spiritual aspect of the material world may be better represented by shadows than by colors.
Plato Rivellis