Why Would You Make it Black and White?

This is a question that was posed to me recently, in a critique of my work. The photo in question (seen in this blog post) is one I have for sale on a stock photography site, which allows photos to be rated by other photographers. My initial reaction to the question was "Umm, because it was shot on black and white film, that's why".

The fact that the question was even asked at all got me thinking about the changes that have occured in photography over the years. I started to question whether I should be surprised that someone might not realise that a photo was taken using black and white film, given that using film at all seems to be unusual in itself. A quick browse of 10 random photos on the stock photography site was enlightening, not one of them had been taken using film.

It's been about 15 or 16 years since I first got really interested in photography, and it's interesting to think of those things which were normal back when I started, and which are now nothing more than the realm of professional photographers, or crazy hobbyist shutterbugs...

For example:
• Fifteen years ago, I'd never even heard of a digital camera, yet someone buying a camera today would not be able to buy a film camera new (assuming a consumer range camera).
• Fifteen years ago, it took a week to get a black and white film developed in my home town, these days, you can take your memory stick into your camera shop of choice, and get your prints straight away.
• Fifteen years ago, to be able to manipulate the photos you took meant you had to have access to a dark room. These days even the most basic, freely available graphics programs will let you play around with your photos to some extent.

Maybe it's not so surprising that people don't know about black and white film any more...