Inspirational Black & White Photos
May 08th 2010 by Andrew S Gibson
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In the conclusion to my eBook The Magic of Black & White: Part I – Vision I wrote about looking at the work of other photographers for inspiration. So where do I go to look for inspirational black and white photos?
One source is Flickr. The interface makes it easy to keep track of the latest photos from my contacts and groups. I have my favourite photographers – and today I’m going to share the work of fourteen of them with you. A tip – if you look at their profiles you will see the photos they have marked as favourites. This is a good way to find the work of new photographers.
14 Inspirational black & white Flickr photographers
Beautiful and surreal. Yves really does ‘make’ rather than ‘take’ photos – his composite images are imaginative and sometimes humorous.
How do you move beyond taking pretty or ‘chocolate-box’ type landscapes? Shooting in black and white is a good start. Xavi builds the geometric shapes within the landscape into his composition and uses slow shutter speeds to create images with strong design elements. You can read my interview with Xavi here.
Vernon likes to use film and experiment with ‘old’ processes such as lith printing and ambrotypes, as well as using digital cameras. His work encompasses the nude, portraiture, still life and landscape.
More minimalist landscape photography. The sea, and snow, feature largely in her work.
Peter is another photographer who interprets the landscape rather than taking photos of it. His work is getting noticed – he’s already been published in several photography magazines.
Jan’s photos of women are beautiful and sensual. He uses film cameras for his portraits, fashion and nude studies.
More surreal photography, with a strong emotional element (the link takes you to Martin’s website, not his Flickrstream).
Kristamas has an unusual way of seeing the world – and it comes across in this selection of (dare I say it?) hauntingly beautiful photos.
Beautiful fine art nude and still life studies.
Gary’s portraits have a faded beauty that evokes the feel of old photos.
More evocative portraiture. There is a mixture of colour and black & white work on her flickrstream – take a look at how she uses similar techniques in both colour and black & white.
Chris has been experimenting with a technique of handholding his camera for long exposures. The results are very interesting. His most recent work is in colour, so you will have to go back through his flickrstream to find the black & white stuff.
I was drawn to Cassandra’s travel photos – her portraits, still lifes and landscapes are beautiful too.
Still lifes with ‘old’ techniques such as ambrotypes and tintypes.
Flickr Groups
Another thing I like about Flickr is groups. Here are some good black & white photography groups to look at:
Fine Art Classic Black & White Landscape
The Magic of Black & White
The Magic of Black & White is my own Flickr group for readers of my eBooks and my blog – or anyone else who likes black & photography.
More Inspiration
Here are some more websites where you can find some inspiration:
Another photo sharing website. All submissions are moderated and the standard on the website is very high. Lots of black & white photos to look at across all genres.
These articles list beautiful black & white photos. You can follow the links to see the photographers’ websites:
Beautiful Black and White Photography
Beautiful Black and White Photography 2
40 Inspirational Black and White Photos
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Andrew,
Thanks for posting these images and links, they are indeed inspirational.
Wonderful and excellent post on B&W!
Totally loved exploring, enjoying and admiring the several works.
Thank you for sharing!
inspirational indeed. Love the Martin Stranka image ..
Beautiful Images-therre is nothing like black and white or toned work to showcase the geometry and essence of a landscape or portrait.
Man – more photographers to check out? Thanks for the links. It’s nice to get recommendations from fellow photographers.
look at http://www.moiseslevy.com a very inspirational BW imagery.
Great site !
Jose