by Lourens Durand
Published the 19th of March  2021

Black and White photography has a long history and is beginning to undergo a revival in popularity. The essence of successful Black and White images has not changed over the years, despite the fact that they are no longer produced in a darkroom, but through digital processes.

'Downtrodden' by Chris Hamilton

There is a plethora of Black and White images out there, but what makes the winning ones stand out? Successful images will probably feature some or all of the following:

A high level of contrast
A wide tonal range, with variation between the different elements
Directional light, yielding distinct highlights and shadows
Distinctive shapes, either positive or negative
A variety of textures
Striking composition
All of these together reflecting an emotion

When starting out with Black and White photography, try to imagine your subject in monochrome or, if you have a Single Lens Reflex camera, set it so that you can see the image on the LCD screen in mono.

The initial conversion of your photos in post processing through Photoshop can be done in several ways:

In Photoshop RAW, with fine-tuning of the tones using the colour mixer
Gradient Map adjustment layer with fine tuning of the colour channels
Black and White Adjustment layer with fine tuning
Through the Image/Adjustment/Black and White selection with fine tuning
Through the Image/Mode/Greyscale selection, where colour information is lost
Simply through desaturation
Using a plug-in such as Silver Efex Pro, which enables a wide range of possible Black and White effects (at a price)

To create more dramatic images, it is useful to do local rather than global adjustments using Photoshop’s adjustment layers and masks, enabling fine tuning of each and every tonal range in the image.


Here is a selection of Black and While photographs from 1x photographers that illustrate the beauty of Black and White photography.

'Chamber music auditorium' by Luc Vangindertael (laGrange)

'High and far' by Filipe P Neto

'Déjà vu' by Samanta

'Bailar' by Axel Brand

'L'attesa' by Roberta Nozza

'Gaze into infinity' by Roberto bressan

'Dancing on the water' by mauro rossi

'White Door 2' by Ahmad Kaddourah

'SAME, BUT DIFFERENTS' by Olavo Azevedo

'Robert F. Kennedy Bridge' by Ibrahim Nabeel

'You saw the beauty' by Jacob Tuinenga

'Trinity' by Beesee

'Ann' by Michael Lim

'Dreams Should've Came True' by Mohammed Baqer

n/t by PhotographerNL

'Mr. Giuseppe – shoe repair, final polishing.' by Antonio Grambone

'Reflection' by Seyed Shahabeddin Montazeri

'Underground Hall' by Louis Agius

'Great Dames' by Johanna Siegmann

'prayers' by Piet Flour

'Nepali beauty...' by Yvette Depaepe

'Black and white stripes'

'Black And White' by Harry Lieber

'Gateway to light' by Juan López Ruiz

'Meeting' by Burghard Nitzschmann

'Black and White' by Miguel Afonso

Lourens Durand