B&W or colour....

[ivan muller]

...or none...?








Voortrekker str, Pretoria. Made with my shifty lens. Some more B&W (mostly) urban images here...http://www.ivanmuller.co.za/gallery/results/taxonomy%3A1?page=5

[Tony Jay]

Ivan in my humble opinion colour justs gets in the way with this image unlike a previous post of the two tatooed gents where the colours expressed the mood and timbre of the image just so well.

Regards

Tony Jay

[Rob C]

In this case I think the two are both too light.

Not being beholden to the virginal school, I'd personally choose to alter many of the areas selectively; but I think that the colour one is probably going to look better if you decide to hold back a lot on the black/white one. If you brave it out, then I think the b/w will be the better picture.

But I think there's a lot of potential in that situation as you have caught it.

Rob C

[RSL]

I think Tony's right, Ivan. Color gets in the way. But I'm not sure what it gets in the way of. What were you thinking about when you shot this? Lee Friedlander?

[ivan muller]

Thanks all !...what I liked was this 'American' feel with palmtrees and the architecture which from my point of view is totally misplaced in this street and town. A throwback to the times when this street had seen better days.....no not Lee Friedlander, perhaps someone else that I cant remember the name of now...

I tried to go as 'light' as I could, because that was the 'light' as I had experienced it when I took the photo. Will post a darker one for comparison later. Personally I go for B&W as a matter of course, but here somehow I prefer the colour version. I have been photographing this street for a couple of days with my 'big' camera, shift lens and tripod and so far the majority of the images are B&W...

But that's why I post it here so I can get your opinion...!

Thanks, Ivan

[popnfresh]

Initially I thought I preferred it in B&W, but the more I look at it the more I like the color version. The colors look like vintage Ektachrome and add a certain 1950's feel to the shot that the B&W version takes away. I particularly like the rust on the signpost in the color version.

[louoates]

I prefer the BW mainly because the color doesn't add much content beyond the rust mentioned. But I saw the rust in the BW also. Either version is effective.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Color, as-is... the very bleakness of it is what works here.

[Bruce Cox]

I like the Color version on an iMac and the B&W version on an iPad.  The iPad has a more contrasty screen where the B&W pavements in the foreground can be seen to recede and open up the space.  On the calabrated iMac the B&W pavements do not recede like the Color pavements do.


Bruce

[ivan muller]

Thanks all for the comments!

Slobodan...yes, thanks, 'bleak' was the word I was looking for and perfectly describes how I experience some parts of this street...

[MartinSpence]

I like the B&W

[Riaan van Wyk]

Ivan, you certainly have an eye for this type of work. Really enjoyed your Philipolis stuff posted here some time ago, having been to both these places I can vouch for the canny ability you have to capture something more than just buildings and nondescript streets.

I'm not sure if I can choose between the two, both have merit for me.