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There is something about black and white photography that beckons me. I equate it to being a baby boomer, and often wonder if others also feel nostalgic about it. After all, in our infancy, perhaps the only pictures of us were in black and white, and our parents’ lives were, for the most part, captured primarily in this media. Perhaps it’s just association, but when I see black and white photos, I’m taken to a time when life seemed easier, simpler, and more positive overall-and a part of me wishes I could delve right into those photos.

There is a view that photography has the miraculous ability to capture and hold a moment for all eternity, and it’s even more of an enigma when the photo is in black and white. Perhaps it’s the suspension of reality in removing color, or maybe it’s that the visual impact is more pronounced and stark. In any event, I think that those of you who grew up before camcorders and digital cameras know the intrigue I’m talking about. Is it any wonder that school photographers now charge more for black and white?

What got me to thinking about this was that I recently visited a building undergoing renovation. It’s been part of my life forever. Well, they retrieved dozens of archived photos, then enlarged and hung them, to reflect their historical path. That path wove through 30 years of the building’s existence, and I couldn’t help but wonder how the children in the photos were making their living today, and what I was doing at the time those pictures were snapped. Then I did a double-take. In one, there was a gal who looked just like me! It was hard to tell for sure, but I’d bet it was me on one of my weekly visits. I once owned clothes like that, the general build resembled mine, and I occasionally wore my hair in that particular style. What an odd feeling that, unknowingly, I’d been frozen on film until years later, for all the public to see during a remodeling project!

Apparently it’s now becoming “in” again to turn to black and white for fashion and personal portrait photography, and little wonder; it has an essence that’s hard to replicate. Sure, color is realistic-but is it sometimes too realistic? Can it portray a mood as well as the subtle nuances of black and white? Do any of you choose to change your digitalized photos into black and white?

A quick glance at a fashion magazine tells me I’m not alone in thinking it’s attention-getting, especially if used with one focal point in bright color. This has been done for years, in print ads, television commercials, and even movies. Some documentaries seem even grittier in black and white, and no one can argue that the abrupt change from black and white to full screen color when Dorothy opened the door to Munchkin Land wasn’t stunning. (My mother told me, when I was quite young, that they did that on purpose to show the drudgery of life on a Kansas farm compared to the magic of Oz. I have often wondered which point was supposed to be more emphasized.)

Even when color photography had been around for some time, it was still common practice to take graduation pictures in black and white; how far they’ve come from the formal studio settings! Yet, kids still utilize this effect on My Space, and some brilliant photographers utilize it with great commercial success as well.

Black and white photography can be mesmerizing, especially in photos of one’s home town. Bygone days hold a fascination in displaying streets known so well, but filled with old vehicles, or even carts. Is it because of the dreamlike, old-fashioned quality, or because it’s just easier on the eyes? Would our favorite old television shows be unsettling if they color-ized them?

Today’s column contains a lot of questions, and I hope they started you thinking. We have more choices than we realize when it comes to photography, so take a hint from famous shutterbugs, and consider black and white occasionally; you may just fall in love with it.