Black and White

A little Black & White

Reminicing brings on the nostalgia bug and for me B & W is The Bug.
I was brought up on B & W, lived it, sat in the dark with it, went into the light with it, went to bed thinking about it, went on holiday with it. Analyzed it, developed it, printed it - loved it!
Then came color. Did all the same things with it, and yet this time at work we did it in 10 x 8 transparencies, even 10 x 8 negatives and made wonderful blow-ups or contact prints from it.
Then I left it and found myself selling it on the road in one form or another and for some years did not miss it.
That did not last long!
My dust ridden cameras of old were gingerly taken from their place of hiding and after a bit of TLC became items of wonder and enjoyment all over again. Off to the local photographic trade shop and lo and behold in the few years I had been away someone had invented the auto-focus lens for 35mm - my favorite camera with all their lovely prime lenses and add on goodies.
Oh dear. I had left a world I knew intimately and returned to an alien culture.
And later, a few years on and what happens - yep - digital arrives!
And the on cost of buying into digital complete with new camera systems and computers, software, plug-ins, add-ons, oh! - remember those who said digital would make photography cheap for all - hah! - I may as well use my previously loved equipment worth around £8 - £10,000 as garage doorstops!
But hey, now I can manage B & W in the light, I can print it in the light, I still think about it when I go to bed, but now I don't need to worry about changing that lens and shielding the open camera back from the sun or the bright light. I'm still cautious though - ingrained from too many years I suppose.
Sitting at a desk and making quality prints without crashing blindly about in a darkroom - color or B & W on a vast array of papers to see in an instance - there at your finger tips - heaven!
And also I think the other major contribution and guiding light to all this is the Internet. A couple of clicks and any queries or information you need is there in front of you from the very many posters from all over the world who contribute to this huge library of knowledge.
I trust it will remain that way.