NYC in black and white

"…the tones are lovely but the heat is lost…" – Joel Meyerowitz on colour and black and white.

I've just been watching a live stream of Joel Meyerowitz discussing photography. Isn't technology great? It's live from Germany. My mind is racing with all sorts of thoughts, just in the same way it did when I saw him live at Derby years ago. He's a great speaker. If you get the chance go to one of his talks.

"Photography describes what's in front of the camera." – Joel Meyerowitz

Anyway. I tuned in right when he was discussing black and white vs colour. He showed two photos next to each other. A colour one and a black and white one. He liked both but said that the colour had heat. Just a simple detail like the sea being reflected in the bottom of a zeplin, for example. He made an interesting case for colour. He also said that theres no rules in street photography so basically don’t over think this Pete!

Now I love black and white but in 30 seconds he made me question that love. That's partly because I've been debating my NYC photos over the past week. I've been concerned that they're not actually any good but simply by them being black and white NYC photos they show a romantic view of a city we love. Are my photos good or are they simply memory triggers? Are people viewing the photos through nostalgia goggles? Romantiglasses?

A street in New York just after sunset