Black and white photography vs. Color?

Since much of what one ordinarily sees now in black and white is old, I wonder if we are,

subconsciously learning to associate black and white with old.

 

Reminds me how many people don't like colorized movies.

 

Some old movies we expect to be in black and white.

B&W =?= old... You're probably substantially correct. However...

I watched Casablanca with my (then) high school daughter several years ago and discussed the lighting and contrast and how it related to plot and character evolution. She really enjoyed the movie and (I think) appreciated comments on contrast and shadows and brightness and good and evil...

While I'm no expert in these things, I do recognize that filmmakers in the B&W era were not just haphazardly shooting color stuff in black & white, they were using the medium that they had to great effect. Converting it to color breaks it!

-K

While some people dislike colorization, I'm at least as bothered by the opposite, - converting color to B&W. I'm not bothered by it when it's done for artistic reasons, I'm bothered when it's done to emphasize age.

I know this happens. I've seen photos and videos online of events, people, etc that I know were originally shot in color but are presented in black and white to emphasize their "oldness".

But there is a certain association of B&W with age that's undeniable. I'm sensitive to that when I take B&W photos of people. I'm not trying to make them look like they're from the past. It's a desire to add a sense of timelessness. By leaving out the color, you're removing part of the fashion. People in B&W photos from the 60's and the 90's won't look quite as different from each other as people in color photos from the same eras.

It's not just the color (or lack of it) that can make a picture look old.

This picture looks old to me even though I took it a few weeks ago. Part of it I think is just the dull weather and the subject of the photo. The other reason I think it looks old is because it was taken with an old camera, - a cheap one which softens everything.