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Beautiful Black and White Photography

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If you’ve been following Smashing Magazine for a while, you know that almost all posts from the Monday Inspiration series are pretty colorful and eye-catching. This post is an exception. Compared to colorful designs where catchy colors help the design to stand out, in black-and-white designs the ability to stand out depends only on its ability to communicate rather than on its appealing visual presentation.

Indeed, beautiful black and white photography doesn’t attract with its play of colors. Here close attention to composition, lighting, perspective and the context it is shot in are important. Hence, before considering the photos presented below please prepare some patience and time. This post presents some truly excellent examples of beautiful black-and-white photography.

Notice: this post isn’t supposed to showcase the best black-and-white-photos of world’s best photographers; please see it as a modest attempt to inspire designers for experimenting with black and white instead of using a variety of vibrant colors all the time. Hopefully, everybody will find something interesting and unusual for herself or himself.

You may want to take a look at our related posts

All photos belong to the respective owners.

Beautiful Black-And-White-Photography

Toni Frissell
In her legendary photos Toni Frissell impresses with a strong trend toward surrealism or realism. The photo presented below, although in black and white, is both extremely sharp and clear. To achieve such level of clarity in black and white is extremely hard.

52 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Alin Ciortea
Alin Ciortea presents examples of modern street photography. In black and white, of course.

67 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

67-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Birds
Unfortunately, the photographer is unknown. The photo seems to be taken at exact the right moment from exactly the right angle with a perfect lighting. Black and white can be powerful as well.

76 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Sally Mann
This photo, titled Candy Cigarette, not just displays something, it tells a story. It is both emotional and beautiful. This is what the originality of black-and-white-photography is all about.

69 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Larry Towell
This shot was taken in El Salvador. Child with star mask during “Day Of The Dead”. Other child in background rolls tire for repair in garage where he works at an adult’s job. The photo is full of tiredness and stubbornness. Simple motif conveying strong emotions.

Comp in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Aneta Kowalczyk
Aneta Kowalczyk specializes in portrait photography. Some of her photos are provoking, some are strange and some are extremely beautiful. The example below displays the beautiful side of black and white photography.

2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Nick Brandt
Nick Brandt is a renown animal photographer which has become famous with his book of photographs, “On This Earth”, which was published in October 2005.

11-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Gary Winogrand
Taking a shot just at the right moment.

40 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Larry Louie
Woman Of Tibet. Realism at its best. Awarded with International Photography Awards in 2007.

555 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Gabriele Caretti
Tour Eiffel: extraordinary contrast and perspective. Strong, clean and very precise shot.

70 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Ghost Town Charm
Excellent lighting.

58 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Ansel Adams
One of the most famous contemporary black and white photographers. Classic!

Adams in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Maurizio Polese
Polese’s works pay close attention to small, tiny details. The tones are perfects and compositions are beautiful which is why the photos are presented in this post. Notice the sharp contrast and the lighting at the first image below and the sharp pathway leading to the light in the second one.

61-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

61 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Top 10 Wired.com Reader Black-and-White Photos
Ten extraordinary black and white photographs sent to the Wired.com editorial by its readers.

75-4 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

75-5 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

75-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Michele Clement
Artistic yet beautiful and extremely powerful shot. Michele Clement is the winner of Black & White Spider Awards 2007 in category “Outstanding Achievement”.

12 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Snyder Alison
This photo has been taken in South Crillon Glacier, Washburn.

45 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Abbas
Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami on the hills surrounding the captital, where his film “Taste of Cherry”, which was co-awarded the Golden Palm in Cannes 1997, was shot.

Comp2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Patrick Figaj
Ceremony.

4 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Jack Radcliffe
Alison’s life in black and white photos. The significance of these pictures emerges in retrospect. “When my daughter Alison was born, in the tradition of a new parent, I began to photograph her, initially in a separate and private body of work. However, in the process of documenting Alison’s growth, I developed a passionate interest in human relationships and capturing intimate moments in the lives of family and friends.”

3 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

3-1 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Arndt Laude
Alignment. Sometiems all it takes is to be at the right place in the right moment and take a shot under the right angle. That’s what happened here.

17 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Ralph Gibson
Staircase is an example of Gibson’s high-contrast, minimalist black and white compositions have influenced a generation of photographers. By isolating the essential elements of a scene, his pictures show a style that is unique and immediately recognizable. [via]

44 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Elliott Erwitt
Erwitt, an advertising and journalistic photographer known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings — the master of the “indecisive moment”.

43 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

43-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Roy Mckeown
Snowy Sheep.

65 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Adam Hinton

13 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Van Shnooken Raggen
Two Warehouses.

27 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Rodney Smith
Rodney Smith has his own understanding of professional black-and-white-photography. Unusual, abstract and surrealistic works.

1-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Drole Deciel
Smiley.

48 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Shazeen Samad
Simple yet excellent composition. This photo manages not just to show something, but to capture a moment of life in all its beauty and vividness.

60 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Scott Bush
Berk-plage – France. What a sky! A really strange squadron: octopussy, teddy bear and skates.

47 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Pedro Meyer
Pedro Meyer shows the life of people across the globe. This photo was taken in Rio De Janeiro.

19 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

19-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Mitch Dobrowner
Mitch Dobrowner is famous due to his Earth photos.

57 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

57-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

57-3 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

57-4 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Robertino Nikolic
lighting plays with geometry. Or geometry plays with lighting? The winner of the Black & White Spider Awards 2007.

15 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Matthias Just
747.

22 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Unknown
Capturing the right moment at the right point of time.

74 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Bert (Quasebart)
Perfect timing, perfect lighting. A dreamy shot.

51 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Hughes Leglise-Bataille
That’s a quite unusual perspective for a photograph.

24 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Santosh Korthiwada
“No peeping please!” Very powerful, emotional and somehow sad photo.

26 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Rui Palha
Rui Palha photographs simple people in simple situations. Result: extraordinary photos of simple things surrounding our life.

Rui1 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Rui3 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Rui2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Watanabe
Straws.

38 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Lauren
Two Tree Hill. The composition looks very surreal, yet powerful and beautiful.

49 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

G. Diaz Deleon
Ventana XIV. Geometric minimalism at its best.

50 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Maurizio Polese
Escape. Unusual angle, unusual perspective.

62 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Jana Stolzer
Nameless.

63 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Vega Omer
Struggling to survive.

66 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Ezra Caldwell
Dog snout. Sometimes the moments from our life are the most valuable moments we should enjoy and keep in mind.

77 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Last Click

Crossing Lines

78 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Classics in Lego
An illustrative summary of iconic pictures with their pairs of Balakov’s Lego figure pictures which are reconstucting famous moments in the history of mankind.

79 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

79-2 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Mark Daniel Owen
I heart you. Do you see what we see?

34 in Beautiful Black and White Photography

Sources and Resources

Vitaly Friedman, editor-in-chief of Smashing Magazine (www.smashingmagazine.com), an online magazine dedicated to designers and developers.

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  1. 1
    Unplugged
    June 9th, 2008 1:47 am

    Amazing!

    Im First ^^

  2. 2
    Abdel Faiz
    June 9th, 2008 1:57 am

    splendid and i’m the second one to comment ^^

  3. 3
    Liam
    June 9th, 2008 1:58 am

    Sally Mann is my favorite photographer.

    I was lucky enough to be able to see some of her prints in person at the Guggenheim, and I can honestly say that was the first time a photograph affected me so much!

  4. 4
    SV
    June 9th, 2008 2:04 am

    Simply amazing

  5. 5
    imaginepaolo
    June 9th, 2008 2:10 am

    Great article!

  6. 6
    Unplugged
    June 9th, 2008 2:11 am

    Amazing!

  7. 7
    V1
    June 9th, 2008 2:11 am

    good photos, tobad i dont say any from deviantart. They have great bw photo’s aswell

  8. 8
    Kasper
    June 9th, 2008 2:43 am

    Beautiful. i saved em all in my inspiration folder! thanks for such a great post Smashingmagazine

  9. 9
  10. 10
    Thomas Baron
    June 9th, 2008 2:57 am

    Berk-plage, France, is spelled Berck. Great article, nice moment to read it.

  11. 11
    Natalia
    June 9th, 2008 3:06 am

    Wonderful images.

    The ninth photo: the author is Garry Winogrand

  12. 12
    Armand
    June 9th, 2008 3:10 am

    This: http://flickr.com/photos/91489640@N00/2079060198/in/set-72157603350551499/ unknown picture is taken by Garry Winogrand

  13. 13
    Andy
    June 9th, 2008 3:19 am

    AWESOME. But the word is LIGHTING not LIGHTNING!!!

  14. 14
    Niobe
    June 9th, 2008 3:29 am

    In black and white, I always loved the work of David Doubilet.
    Gallery/a>

  15. 15
    Thibaut Allender
    June 9th, 2008 4:00 am

    Nice examples.

    The second photo really makes me think about one of my series. More there if you like them ;-)

  16. 16
    id.JackBook.Com
    June 9th, 2008 4:05 am

    WOW!!!! THAT FIRST PHOTO, THE LADY IN THE WATER!!
    WOWWW!!!!!

    *stunned*

  17. 17
    LuLu
    June 9th, 2008 4:06 am

    Magnifique :-)

  18. 18
    Mirthe
    June 9th, 2008 4:09 am

    I love the ‘Crossing Line’ picture!

  19. 19
    eod
    June 9th, 2008 4:20 am

    Candy Cigarette, beautiful shot. It is a boy disguised in girl?

  20. 20
    Erik Teichmann
    June 9th, 2008 4:22 am

    Some of my favorite black and white photos are from English Russia. My particular favorite on this page is this one of a man and his accordion.

  21. 21
    speedcu
    June 9th, 2008 4:32 am

    great shots!! I love “Birds” and the pictures of Jack Radcliffe most.
    beautiful. To me it seems that most of the pictures have a sad, melancholic touch. I like this, however :)

  22. 22
    Jonatan
    June 9th, 2008 4:51 am

    Amazing… see my pictures: [link]http://www.clipcroma.com[/link]

  23. 23
    Stewart
    June 9th, 2008 4:56 am

    You swine!. I’ve been quite happy with my photography of late and now I’m depressed

  24. 24
    Anthem Creative
    June 9th, 2008 5:00 am

    Excellent post and stunning photography. I must say though, the most compelling element of black and white photography, in addition to the reasons listed, is the capturing and displaying of the brutally honest emotional value in its subjects. B&W photography can inspire laughter, tears, or any variety of emotional response in a way that no other medium seems to be able to accomplish.

  25. 25
    Diego Valobra
    June 9th, 2008 5:02 am

    Really beautiful,

    Diego

  26. 26
    mayur
    June 9th, 2008 5:07 am

    simply amazing ……
    tired of seeing graphical pic’s nowdayz
    gr8 collection :D

  27. 27
    FavBrowser
    June 9th, 2008 5:23 am

    I’d prefer colored version, some amazing shots there.

  28. 28
    Veronica
    June 9th, 2008 5:39 am

    Absolutely amazing shots. The photographers ought to be proud of themselves.

  29. 29
    theemptywhiteroom
    June 9th, 2008 5:45 am

    the piece entitled “birds” is a photomanipulation submitted on deviantart.com approximately 1 year ago. It is not an original photo.

  30. 30
    Andris
    June 9th, 2008 6:19 am

    I love black and white photographs much more than the colored ones.
    They always transport the feelings much purer than with colors.
    Great selection by the way.

  31. 31
    bobby n.
    June 9th, 2008 6:33 am

    the image titled “Good Winter” seems stolen from fastboy’s flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fastboy, and not given appropriate credit.

  32. 32
    Zaphod Beeblebrox
    June 9th, 2008 6:46 am

    Lovely collection, but please credit ever photo carefully. The photo titled “Good Winter” was taken by Ezra Caldwell:
    http://www.flickr.com/people/fastboy/
    and the story that goes with it is completely bogus. Please correct this asap.

  33. 33
    Christian
    June 9th, 2008 7:16 am

    You should check out Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s photos. An award winner, awesome director.

  34. 34
    Alin Ciortea
    June 9th, 2008 7:18 am

    It’s an honor to be featured here, next to Elliott Erwitt, one of my all-time favorites!

  35. 35
    Pelardo
    June 9th, 2008 7:23 am

    Damn this would be a great exposition allright!

    nice work !!!

  36. 36
    Mona
    June 9th, 2008 7:25 am

    Very inspiring! Thank you!

    I noticed that two amazing photographers didn’t make it into the post and thought I would send out links to their work for those who enjoyed this… these two photographers are magical!

    Robert ParkeHarrison http://www.geh.org/parkeharrison/

    ENJOY!

  37. 37
    Osvaldo Osorio
    June 9th, 2008 7:34 am

    La sexta foto que publicaron me impactó tanto. Soy de El Salvador, y me impresionó mucho como se capturó esta realidad de mi país.

  38. 38
    MytyMyky
    June 9th, 2008 8:24 am

    Nice article. The 9th image (marked as unkown) is by Gary Winogrand. Intersting that I had seen that pic on the web just a couple of days ago.hehe.

  39. 39
    Aaron
    June 9th, 2008 8:34 am

    Amazing photos. I’ve seen a few of them before but never assembled into one collection it was great.

  40. 40
    Mike
    June 9th, 2008 10:15 am

    VERY nice collection of photographs. I will be sharing this one…

    I invite anyone interested in black and white photography to check out my father’s work here:
    http://www.ducktrapphoto.com

    He takes some pretty stunning black and white photos.

  41. 41
    Aakash Goel
    June 9th, 2008 10:37 am

    Truly Amazing!!! Keep it up!

  42. 42
    Mehran
    June 9th, 2008 10:44 am

    WOW!

  43. 43
    Andreas
    June 9th, 2008 10:58 am

    Great work but i think you forgot Alex Majoli of Magnum Photos and James Nachtwey of VII.

  44. 44
    Pedro Assumpção
    June 9th, 2008 11:09 am

    Very good collection. But in Black & White Cariter-Bresson was the best for me.
    You should put some Bresson pics in this post.
    Pedro

  45. 45
    Tom Mayers
    June 9th, 2008 2:39 pm

    I’m not sure who you’re impressing with these? Is this a photoblog now? Whist an improvement on the woeful recent HDR post, your forays into photography are lacklustre and derivative. You less than insightful commentary (”Taking a shot just at the right moment”) adds very little. you are great at tech and coding posts, why don’t you just stick to them?

  46. 46
    JuiceMag
    June 9th, 2008 6:28 pm

    Well i’m not an expert but in my opinion, a black-and-white picture looks gorgeous with the contrast of black and white and also the way the pic silently tells its meaning :D

  47. 47
    sudham
    June 9th, 2008 7:29 pm

    Black and white photos has its own beauty and are gorgious

  48. 48
    Angelina
    June 9th, 2008 9:36 pm

    These look fantastic.

  49. 49
    Cody Redmon
    June 9th, 2008 9:53 pm

    fantastic look at the field, but as ‘theemptywhiteroom’ commented, the “Birds” entry is without question a work of photoshop. it took less than ten seconds for me to recognize three ‘bird’ shapes that are scaled and repeated at different angles. the shot is just too perfect, i’m surprised you guys didn’t figure that out on your own…

    here’s my photo “submission”…

  50. 50
    Roger
    June 9th, 2008 10:11 pm

    Need some Lee Friedlander in here. Glad to see Winogrand made it.

  51. 51
    Chromogenic
    June 9th, 2008 10:43 pm

    Wow, incredible selection! Having Ansel Adams there just made my day.

    My own black and white gallery: http://www.apochromat.net

  52. 52
    Kalo
    June 9th, 2008 10:45 pm

    Amazing photos. Also check
    purelook.com

  53. 53
    sandie sørensen
    June 9th, 2008 11:09 pm

    Funny.
    I recognized the Photo that Sally Mann made on smashings frontpage at once!
    Because here where I work, we have her exhibition right now!
    So If you love her photos, go to Royal Library of Denmark!

    Thanks for inspiration, Smashing. Once again.

  54. 54
    Haris
    June 10th, 2008 12:11 am

    Absolutely amazing collection!
    You may also check impressive photo gallery of life and death in Sarajevo ‘92. – ‘96.
    sa92
    Various photographers telling the same (sad) story.

  55. 55
    Sagar
    June 10th, 2008 12:19 am

    great ,now i think i should try out something like this

  56. 56
    Hughes Léglise-Bataille
    June 10th, 2008 1:23 am

    I’m somehow glad yet puzzled to have one of my photos included in this selection, which I must say is quite a mixed bag that unfortunately, falls very very short of presenting a top quality selection. Famous photographers mixed with completely unknown amateurs, great shots mixed with very poor ones, and all this missing a massive number of fantastic works by world renowned photographers (in no particular order, where are Nachtwey, HCB, Pellegrin, Doisneau, Koudelka, Kertesz, Capa, Trent Parke, etc, etc.).

    By the way, the author of “Straws” is Japanese photographer Hiroshi Watanabe.

  57. 57
    unknow
    June 10th, 2008 2:38 am

    wow! These photos are insane

  58. 58
    Io, burattino
    June 10th, 2008 2:55 am

    Sono foto assolutamente magnifiche!

  59. 59
    m64
    June 10th, 2008 3:18 am

    nice photo collection. Great.

  60. 60
    liam
    June 10th, 2008 3:23 am

    Amazing.

  61. 61
    misu
    June 10th, 2008 3:37 am

    The author of the 4th phoro – “Birds” is Madsky
    The name of the photo “The End”

  62. 62
    milo
    June 10th, 2008 3:40 am

    You should definitely add tony duran: tonyduran[dot]net to your list, amazing photography.

  63. 63
    Barend
    June 10th, 2008 4:21 am

    fantastic selection!

  64. 64
    krekc
    June 10th, 2008 6:09 am

    Phenomenal set of pictures. Excellent work!

  65. 65
    Rex
    June 10th, 2008 9:08 am

    They’re all great and beautiful in their own way, but that Toni Frissell photo and who she is as a photographer and her body of work is the best one here… oh yeah, that guy Ansel Adams is pretty good too. I’m new to all of this and just recently discovered this website. What a great place to be in. So much to do. So much to see. So much to learn. I love it here. It has now become my default home page, sorry Google and Yahoo!

  66. 66
    Jessica Griffin
    June 10th, 2008 9:13 am

    Awesome images!

  67. 67
    reta
    June 10th, 2008 8:58 pm

    Cool photography

  68. 68
    Subra
    June 11th, 2008 2:01 am

    What a contrast! Really inspiring.

  69. 69
    bisbis
    June 11th, 2008 2:14 am

    Great compilation!
    Check my black and white works

  70. 70
    med
    June 11th, 2008 4:58 am

    Amazing collection

  71. 71
    Louis Klibansky
    June 11th, 2008 5:47 am

    Absolutely beautiful! Great selection; work that conveys a message. I especially love Candy Cigarette and Jack Radcliffe.

  72. 72
    Roptor
    June 11th, 2008 6:27 am

    nice .. I Love Black and White photo … i dont like color….see my gallry in
    mobile.photomillenium.com/Gallery/Photos.aspx?ID=2435
    thanks

  73. 73
    AndrewE
    June 11th, 2008 8:54 am

    Most of these are ‘pretty’ but stimulate little other than aesthetic pleasure. This is a pleasingly safe list. Hardly surprising when your audience consists of mostly tech geeks who think culture was something that MTV invented. Stick to producing sugar-coated geekery. Leave art alone.

  74. 74
    diverse
    June 11th, 2008 11:09 am

    The last one, is in colour too for sure.

  75. 75
    JSHAW
    June 11th, 2008 11:51 am

    THIS IS JUST LOVELY!

  76. 76
    Bendik Teigene
    June 11th, 2008 2:32 pm

    Candy cigarettes is truly the most beautifull picture I have ever seen

  77. 77
    Liam
    June 11th, 2008 8:23 pm

    Hey AndrewE,

    Maybe since you’re so enlightened and educated in regards to truly “cultural” art, you could provide us with some examples, instead of insulting the entire readership of this website.

    Show us all of your conversation-stimulating and deeply conceptual, culturally relevant artwork, because you must be quite the artist if you feel like you can come here and take a jab at all of the above photographers.

    This website is not an art website, it is a resource for general inspiration. Nowhere in the post did they mention that they were trying to bring together a definitive collection of art photography, they were merely displaying a few pieces to stimulate the creativity of their community.

    You believe they should leave art alone, and I believe you should leave this website alone.

    Thanks.

  78. 78
    Sowmya
    June 12th, 2008 9:44 am

    Awesome pics.. loved all of them

  79. 79
    Oliver Ruehl
    June 12th, 2008 11:56 am

    Hi guys,

    your website is a true inspiration.
    Thank you for the constant flow of amazing material.
    I really appreciate the photography topics to find images that create a spark in my creative mind.
    All these photos made me grab my camera, leave the room and become better at photography :)

    I follow each single post on this site and it has become of my main sources for inspiration.
    My colleagues at work love it too and always thank me that I forwarded them the link to smashingmagazine.

    Keep up the smashingly good work! ;)
    Oliver Ruehl

  80. 80
    andy h
    June 12th, 2008 1:19 pm

    this one is missing in the list: shorpy.com

  81. 81
    Kane
    June 13th, 2008 12:09 am

    I have been following this website for a few months now, and in my opinion this is the best article yet. Most inspirational also (made me want to just go out and take photos)

    Superb.

  82. 82
    rc dmn
    June 13th, 2008 6:21 am

    if us see all in black and white, would be the world different ?

  83. 83
    Bluedreams
    June 13th, 2008 10:41 am

    cool work =)
    Some of them are simply amazing !!!

  84. 84
    Phil Jones CEO SWPP & BPPA
    June 14th, 2008 7:02 am

    Nice selection of images

  85. 85
    Fred
    June 14th, 2008 10:38 am

    The picture’s photographer about kites in Berk-plage is not “Scott Bush” but me.

  86. 86
    miqsh
    June 14th, 2008 1:26 pm

    so beautiful!! everything is so different from the other…love this!

  87. 87
    billie
    June 15th, 2008 5:56 pm

    the candy cigarette photo is beautiful. i hope that when i am older and taking photos a hope that i could take one as beutiful as that. the rest are amazing!!

  88. 88
    marie ancolie
    June 16th, 2008 10:57 am

    The photo “birds” is an exceptional one.
    As is the photo from michele Clement.

    Wonderful to discover you magazine today…….

  89. 89
    saber yousefi
    June 16th, 2008 2:42 pm

    wow! very nice! I saw them all pixel by pixel,continue plz…

  90. 90
    ananda rizki ramdani
    June 16th, 2008 11:12 pm

    amazing inpiration, i love ‘bird’ one

  91. 91
    John Brown
    June 17th, 2008 2:33 pm

    Awesome images!

  92. 92
    Rajesh
    June 18th, 2008 9:35 am

    phenomenal

  93. 93
    Mohammad360
    June 19th, 2008 1:21 am

    very very nice. So nice!

  94. 94
    Amin
    June 19th, 2008 11:46 pm

    well i know the one ” Unknown
    Capturing the right moment at the right point of time.”
    photographer.
    and the one is jumping off is my cousin arash.
    the photo is in north of iran “khane Darya”.
    if you want more detail send me an email .

  95. 95
    medea
    June 20th, 2008 10:13 pm

    the ghost town charm is realy beaytiful!love them all.

  96. 96
    Falkor
    June 25th, 2008 3:28 am

    Great collection!

    Snail pic is cute! :-*

  97. 97
    Xcalyver
    June 27th, 2008 7:18 am

    You guys think these photos are silver gelatin or digital??

  98. 98
    santhu
    June 29th, 2008 8:58 pm

    wow!!!!!!!!!

  99. 99
    jamie
    July 1st, 2008 12:37 am

    Great collections and you guys rock, I would prefer the upside down guy by Shazeen Samad and the first one by Toni Frissell… Oh my goodness.. these pictures are worth millions…

  100. 100
    A.Alaalas
    July 1st, 2008 3:25 pm

    Ciortea’s photo suggests the lad will break his neck on that back dive; not what I would call an emotive scene. Also, in El Salvador the culture does not distinguish “adult jobs” — it tends to focus on survival. And, no, that is not the “real meaning” of the photo, it is just the opposite, a crass disrespect of reality and a leap into the fantastic, a far step from photo-realistic art interpretation.

  101. 101
    theRealsaryB
    July 2nd, 2008 6:58 am

    Just beautiful…. could stare at them for hours, very inspirational

  102. 102
    ALEX
    July 3rd, 2008 4:35 pm

    this is incomprehensible for me. i’ve never seen photos like these, even in color! i absolutely adored the ones of the parts of earth and the ones taken far away from the cities.

  103. 103
    Claire
    July 4th, 2008 5:22 am

    Fantastic collection! Thank you for sharing this with the world.

    I would love to know what the person in “Birds” was doing and if they, ummm, survived jumping off the side of a tall building. Made my toes tingle….

  104. 104
    Ted Blake
    July 4th, 2008 5:29 am

    I have always preferred black and white photography over color. So many more details can be seen without being distracted by color.
    One great photographer I didn’t see mentioned here is Clyde Butcher. He has done some fantastic shoots in Florida, Cuba and the western U.S.

  105. 105
    photoshop_cop
    July 4th, 2008 5:14 pm

    PHOTOSHOPPED!

  106. 106
    d
    July 5th, 2008 3:49 am

    photoshop is cool, people can claim things and they have proof too.

  107. 107
    Fern
    July 5th, 2008 12:31 pm

    I am amazingly annoyed! I’ve seen that ‘birds’ photograph many times before and always wanted to know where it’s from, especially since I’ve seen one that appears to have been taken from behind the man as he jumps. I saw this on clipmarks and thought I might finally find out where it’s from…no such luck.

  108. 108
    SEBA
    July 6th, 2008 6:57 am

    saludos excelente presente

  109. 109
    hakan
    July 6th, 2008 3:28 pm

    süper fotolar…

  110. 110
    Yare
    July 6th, 2008 7:00 pm

    Very nice collection!

  111. 111
    Jurgen
    July 7th, 2008 10:41 pm

    breathtaking! How amazing that anyone nowadays can shoot beautiful photos!

  112. 112
    Shankar Vashist
    July 8th, 2008 2:18 am

    Hi !

    Great pics… learning experience for budding photo enthusiasts.

    Cheers, Shankar

  113. 113
    Siddharth
    July 10th, 2008 5:56 pm

    I do not have words to describe what the above content is…..
    Only one thing can be said…. just out of the box thinking

  114. 114
    jcroldan
    July 11th, 2008 2:18 am

    Fantastic collection!!!! Love it.

  115. 115
    alatryste
    July 11th, 2008 2:21 am

    Awesome collection!, I can assure you I have more ideas now thant 30 min. ago!, I added your feed to my reader, big thanks and keep it up!

  116. 116
    M. A. Curtis
    July 13th, 2008 2:38 pm

    Nice pictures…Lame descriptions… The writer evidently thinks they’re qualified to discuss art because they use words like, “powerful”, “perspective”, and “composition”.

  117. 117
    Dawud
    July 15th, 2008 2:55 am

    SUPER:-))

    Selam from Bosnia:-))

  118. 118
    MrXon
    July 15th, 2008 5:38 am

    Amazing. My fav pages!

  119. 119
    liliana
    July 22nd, 2008 8:19 pm

    Some of these are definitely silver gelatin. They’re phenomenal.

  120. 120
    sam
    July 24th, 2008 8:54 pm

    amazing shots somewhat inspiring:)

  121. 121
    Niky
    July 27th, 2008 10:47 pm

    amazing! great!

  122. 122
    Highton-Ridley
    August 1st, 2008 2:33 pm

    Thanks for bringing together such a fine collection of black and white images. There’s a lot to learn just by spending time looking at these – so thanks again :)

    Maybe one day one of mine will feature in an article like this!

  123. 123
    hatem
    August 4th, 2008 2:46 am

    waaaaaaaaaaaw

  124. 124
    megan
    August 4th, 2008 2:50 am

    WHOA!! they are all fantastic!! i really do LOVE black & white photography the best. i think it really brings out the raw emotions within a moment. very good captures!

  125. 125
    Shikhar
    August 9th, 2008 10:40 am

    Simply Great !!!

    Giving U A Fealing Of Being Touched By Heart

  126. 126
    Andrea Brand
    August 18th, 2008 5:28 am

    Wow! These are amazing! Beautiful.. great inspiration!

  127. 127
    Pics
    August 29th, 2008 8:05 am

    Wonderful collection here! There’s also some nice B&W photography at Whispers on the Side.

  128. 128
    Clau
    August 30th, 2008 2:40 pm

    im amazed…. all black and white photos tells a story.. they rock.. wonderfull collection

  129. 129
    locked up abroad
    August 31st, 2008 1:28 pm

    the world needs to see this …..so I’m posting this on facebook for my friend to see

  130. 130
    brain melton
    September 4th, 2008 7:44 am

    i think it is amazingly good i think rehlaerhgerahlareh

  131. 131
    Sathy
    September 4th, 2008 10:54 pm

    Simply supurb

  132. 132
    pete
    September 7th, 2008 6:18 pm

    wondering if anyone could help me find a certain picture( was told it was well known just didnt know the title)…. its a black and white photo of a lady putting on lipstick sitting on then edge of what looks like a hotel bed and her legs up on the dresser…. guy in backround with shirt off.

  133. 133
    Jimmy
    September 15th, 2008 6:07 am

    These are amazin’
    Add this one to the list Reflexstock.com

  134. 134
    Kazelghb
    September 18th, 2008 9:18 am

    Hi webmaster!

  135. 135
    Paddy Ryan
    September 21st, 2008 1:23 pm

    Brilliant photos! Cheers!

  136. 136
    djlt
    September 21st, 2008 4:24 pm

    there was a picture somewhere on this site, little girl/ with a hoody on or hood over their head anyone know where to fine this pic

  137. 137
    Josh 906
    September 22nd, 2008 11:25 am

    What a great collection. I do have a question for anyone out there who might be able to help: My digital camera has a BW filter setting. Is it better to shoot photos in BW or shoot them in color and remove the color in Photoshop? Feel free to e-mail me: design [at] 906graphics.com.
    Thanks!

  138. 138
    shifa manhal
    September 23rd, 2008 3:37 am

    hunt for bnw pics for my wall got me to this site !
    and i am impressed … got no words … my fave is no peeping please .

  139. 139
    areej
    September 25th, 2008 5:57 am

    wow

  140. 140
    tony
    September 25th, 2008 3:42 pm

    verdaderamente magníficas fotos de la gran sensibilidad humana

  141. 141
    digyourlove
    September 29th, 2008 6:17 am

    seldom see pictures like these! really great!

  142. 142
    ewwdinnatalk
    October 2nd, 2008 6:10 am

    love the pictures keep them going but have more animals and insects

    xx

  143. 143
    KoufaxR
    October 3rd, 2008 2:28 pm

    This post is amazing. What great insight and great pictures I’ve never been exposed to.

  144. 144
    samantha
    October 4th, 2008 12:06 pm

    omg their butuful ive never seen pictures so butuful who ever took thees pictures should be a amazing personne

  145. 145
    Victor Augusteo
    October 6th, 2008 3:37 pm

    Also check this out, Black and white cityscape photographymartialphoto.net

  146. 146
    yedi
    October 8th, 2008 12:04 pm

    halaluyahhhh!!!

  147. 147
    Birumanand
    October 17th, 2008 9:11 am

    The best of Black and white collection i have seen.
    Great Job.

  148. 148
    Sortins Technologies
    October 20th, 2008 12:28 am

    really really beautiful photography and i like black also very much. thnq

  149. 149
    hutchic
    October 21st, 2008 4:32 am

    Great shots and you have a typo “Sometiems “

  150. 150
    Aubrey
    November 5th, 2008 9:21 am

    These pictures are beautiful! I love them ♥ :)

  151. 151
    jes
    November 6th, 2008 6:48 pm

    Hey Smashing magazine, I really love your website. There are too many things here that are really useful and inspiring.

  152. 152
    Angel
    November 9th, 2008 12:23 pm

    OMG!!!!!! i absolutly LOOOOOVE these photos!!! i like the one called candy ciggerette……..it reallly had an affect on me

  153. 153
    trebinje
    November 24th, 2008 3:59 am

    Very inspiring! Thank you for advice!

  154. 154
    bob
    November 24th, 2008 1:47 pm

    hey guys. cool pics.i like to see other peoples pics.they are nice.my grandma takes pics like those all the time.i think that pics are awsome.black and white are my favorite colors.well have a nace day now i will blog later on byebye

  155. 155
    maaaaazer
    November 24th, 2008 1:49 pm

    hey guys. nice pics. you guys are awsome go beans go. i like dogs more then cats. blue is my favorite color but i also like cream. i like pizza…but only on fridays, thats when family night is. well my mom is going to catch me on the computer so i have to go. later home doggggggggggggggggggggs

  156. 156
    Rubén Osuna Guerrero
    November 29th, 2008 3:37 am

    I strongly recommend Bud Green’s photographs

    flickr.com/photos/bud_green/

  157. 157
    dave
    November 30th, 2008 8:06 am

    great site. have just orderd a new SLR and its good to have some ware with lots of different angles on B&W photos. great ideas.

  158. 158
    azita
    December 2nd, 2008 10:25 pm

    it was really beautiful
    thank`s alot,photographer

  159. 159
    Anu
    December 4th, 2008 12:52 am

    beautiful!!

  160. 160
    Kau
    December 4th, 2008 12:59 am

    Amazing !!

  161. 161
    pauline
    December 7th, 2008 12:44 pm

    Nice pictures,
    They really inspire me. (:
    They are Beautiful !

  162. 162
    nafan
    December 8th, 2008 2:35 pm

    nice fotos but i like qwertyuiop

  163. 163
    Sunil
    December 10th, 2008 4:17 am

    Simply Marvelous!!!!!!!

  164. 164
    Kathe
    December 10th, 2008 5:46 pm

    Super cool!! i love them

  165. 165
    girl
    December 11th, 2008 6:57 am

    WOW! i am in love with photography!
    black and white is my favorite :D i am learning and just looking at certain pictures give me the chills they are so amazing! Man i cant wait untill i get my own camera. i am gonna go crazy!

  166. 166
    angelina
    December 13th, 2008 10:45 am

    i adored all the pictures……………………………..crazy photos!!!!!!!!!!!

  167. 167
    Ari
    December 22nd, 2008 2:22 pm

    Truly inspiring, I want to cry!

  168. 168
    haylee12
    January 7th, 2009 7:37 am

    i love it,
    i was amazing,
    i love the girl with the cigarett,
    :)
    amazing, keep going

  169. 169
    jessicaa
    January 7th, 2009 7:43 am

    you mean candy cigarett??
    duh,
    itt is goodd,
    all off it is,

  170. 170
    shane
    January 7th, 2009 8:18 pm

    betiful amazing artistic in every way love it my fave is the geco

  171. 171
    noonu
    January 12th, 2009 7:55 am

    sUpErb cOllEcTiOn Of pHoToS…!!!

  172. 172
    jake
    January 14th, 2009 7:03 am

    These pictures are exquisit!
    I love your photography..

  173. 173
    emma
    January 17th, 2009 7:16 am

    amaizing ther are beutiful.

  174. 174
    carrie
    January 26th, 2009 12:40 pm

    wow i love this web sit this photos are so amazing and breathing taking and how some of them can show a whole story in one picture

  175. 175
    oratile
    January 27th, 2009 7:19 am

    WOW!!! i am so blown away with these pictures they are amazing ! i have never seen such wonderful photographs, in my life, especially when they are black and white.

  176. 176
    Remya.P.Viswan
    January 28th, 2009 1:56 am

    Really amazzing!!!!!!!! I can’t take my eyes back…..

  177. 177
    adel
    February 2nd, 2009 3:36 am

    i love the photos its amazzing , realy great

  178. 178
    Tooba BAloch
    February 6th, 2009 11:21 am

    simply amazing!!

  179. 179
    bb
    February 15th, 2009 5:57 pm

    Truly inspiring!!!
    Thanks for sharing.

  180. 180
    Rino
    February 16th, 2009 5:19 pm

    thak you for showing these pic.
    truly inspiring and beatiful

  181. 181
    kiely bernhardt
    February 17th, 2009 9:38 am

    i love all of them they are great!

  182. 182
    nazakath
    February 21st, 2009 9:31 pm

    Super cool!! i love them

  183. 183
    amanda
    February 27th, 2009 8:32 am

    i love the snails! i love all of them! :]

    <33

  184. 184
    Aditya
    March 4th, 2009 8:06 am

    These images are just wonderful……I would love to learn photography after seeing these..all mesmerising……….!!

  185. 185
    Renee
    March 12th, 2009 7:55 am

    all of these photos are framed and on my wall!

  186. 186
    E,Ravi
    March 13th, 2009 12:50 am

    good photos Michele Clement

  187. 187
    EliXiR
    March 16th, 2009 6:27 am

    Great collection

  188. 188
    senthil
    March 30th, 2009 12:23 am

    fabulous!!!!

  189. 189
    Noeleen Shaw
    March 31st, 2009 1:30 pm

    Where is Peter Peryer from New Zealand!

  190. 190
    brianna
    April 6th, 2009 11:42 am

    hi i like this and i like food just kidding ya i am ok thx for asking

  191. 191
    noelle
    April 6th, 2009 11:45 am

    wow that was some of the best pie ever

  192. 192
    brianna
    April 6th, 2009 11:46 am

    hi noelle

  193. 193
    noelle
    April 6th, 2009 11:46 am

    hi brianna tee hee he

  194. 194
    Luis
    April 7th, 2009 8:17 am

    Muy buenas las fotos
    me gusto mucho la de la lagartija

  195. 195
    Paul Cooklin
    April 8th, 2009 3:46 pm

    ‘Smashing’.

  196. 196
    Gleison junior
    April 8th, 2009 7:37 pm

    são muitos loucas i que impressina as pessoas ,se eu desse conta de fazer eu fazia uma pasta na net so para isso .Parabens para quem criou.

  197. 197
    S. Blair Fox
    May 23rd, 2009 8:38 pm

    A poem for the cigarette girl and you…

    Not a Candy Cigarette
    by , S. Blair Fox

    Not a candy cigarette she smokes,
    young girl holding between tokes,
    at shaded playground park defending
    the right to tobacco puff, not intending
    to be caught , underage against the rage
    of smoke filled adults, education sage,
    that preaches bad habits, but teaches
    by bad example, gives her lessons, reaches
    for the soul to keep her in position,
    and out of integrity, implying omission
    from hot fire inhalation, thinking others degrade,
    why can’t she?

    She’s been smoking for months,
    under bushes and trees, with flies and moths,
    away from hated adult supervision,
    to test her skills against their old superstition
    and beliefs about “innocent” kids behavior,
    she’s not waiting for some kind of savior.
    Scary adult manipulation threatened
    her foundation, creating a world weakened
    by lies and truths gone awry,
    hiding from trouble lurking, dark help exemplify.

  198. 198
    Ed
    May 28th, 2009 1:33 pm

    Great collection, welldone Smashing Team..I stumbled across this set of black and whites in my research which are very nice for my project inspiration

  199. 199
    Ker
    May 30th, 2009 5:26 pm

    birds–very nice
    Shazeen- This reminds me of growing up on the MI lakeshore. This photo is structural and playful. It makes me smile and feel the “at home” feeling.

  200. 200
    Edd
    June 21st, 2009 4:29 pm

    I like art.
    THEY SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I like the shape

  201. 201
    Naeem Gujjar
    June 24th, 2009 4:09 am

    Amazing!

    Sooooo Beautiful…………………..!!!!!

  202. 202
    nel
    June 29th, 2009 7:32 pm

    woooww! reaallly.. superb!!!

  203. 203
    nel
    June 29th, 2009 7:38 pm

    really inspiring photos ands touch my life…. superb!

  204. 204
    fatima
    June 30th, 2009 7:13 am

    maza agayi by god!!

  205. 205
    eva geiger
    July 1st, 2009 9:06 am

    Such a perfect collection of BW photos !! i am impressed. EG

  206. 206
    Monica McNeil
    July 9th, 2009 1:57 pm

    this was just wonderful.
    those pictures were Awesome!!

  207. 207
    prince
    July 15th, 2009 11:05 pm

    Thank for it. it’s looking very nice.. photografic is a fun..and i like it
    thanks

  208. 208
    amie
    July 20th, 2009 5:05 pm

    awesome photos!

  209. 209
    diegouo
    July 21st, 2009 10:45 am

    “birds” image …
    from deviantart :

    Artist’s Comments
    “Suicide among birds. First feeling will be the freedom, then fear… Whatever, i always want to fly anyway…”

    EDIT:

    Technical Note:
    Birds are copied from one of my old works “Stand Alone” one by one. Resized. Rotated. vs vs
    Jumping man is copied from one of “The end at the end” work shots. I used self timer and tripod to get this jump action freezed…

    So, i repeat :) this is not an actual shot, not a “kodak moment”.

    http://madsky.deviantart.com/art/The-End-19108599

  210. 210
    rashi
    July 27th, 2009 8:06 pm

    u collection s suprbb……i liked …………..

  211. 211
    fotios
    August 2nd, 2009 10:03 am

    i saw the freedom in some of your fotos…….the beauty of our planet and people live on it

  212. 212
    ieenashree
    August 7th, 2009 1:11 am

    wooooooooooooooooooooooow……………..AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG…………

  213. 213
    Elena
    August 17th, 2009 5:57 am

    Absolutely fabulous!

  214. 214
    KiKio
    August 17th, 2009 7:35 am

    This is seriously some of the best photography I have ever seen! I hope you have many years and insperations to create more

  215. 215
    MOLSHRI
    August 21st, 2009 8:35 pm

    AWSOME……….
    ITS DAMN INTERESTING…
    THE WORK DONE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL….VERY ATHENIC…
    OUTSTANDING

  216. 216
    Juis
    September 6th, 2009 8:36 pm

    Wow…cool…
    best picture !!!!!!!!!!

  217. 217
    Andre
    September 14th, 2009 11:54 pm

    Fakeries sould be banned from photographs listings. A photo at least need to be created in one singel moment of time. Enhancing here and there for exposure or accents is acceptable but montage from mulitple pictures where we see two suns like in – Ghost Town Charm – . And then all these comments with such purported photos. Are people stupid?

  218. 218
    chitra
    September 17th, 2009 2:23 am

    nice!!! this is called defferent perspective to see things.. :) exellent.

  219. 219
    Andrei Bergthold
    September 17th, 2009 8:22 am

    This is Okay Im indifferent some is tite some is nontite.

    Also thrilled to be #225

  220. 220
    Sara
    September 21st, 2009 4:14 pm

    i love these!! beautiful that’s one thing.

  221. 221
    larine milligton
    September 23rd, 2009 7:24 am

    its gay i hate blck and white pic

  222. 222
    philwebsupport
    October 6th, 2009 6:19 pm

    I love this portion went I want to shoot somebody I always check this composition and try to put myself in the scene.

    thanks smash mag

  223. 223
    Winanto
    October 8th, 2009 7:51 am

    very2 extraordinary photos…..
    hmm i like that!!!

  224. 224
    budi triono
    October 11th, 2009 7:27 am

    after i saw the photos, so i wanna to find image at the my world. oh god.

  225. 225
    subham Kumar Das
    October 12th, 2009 12:38 am

    you take the pleasure out of the work……………………………….thats the beauty of your work……………………………..

  226. 226
    esmaeil
    October 21st, 2009 3:30 am

    Absolutely fabulous!

  227. 227
    creativebrain
    November 2nd, 2009 2:49 am

    amazing black and white photo.. very likes

  228. 228
    Webmistress Anne
    November 4th, 2009 4:10 pm

    Snyder Alison’s shot is amazing. It’s amazing what the human mind can see and create when it’s forced to deal with the basics of theme. In this case – creating an image that totally captures the imagination even though it can only contain 2 colours – black and white.

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