We reached out to prominent photographers Massimo Leardini, Ewa-Mari Johansson, and Fred Mortagne to ask why they shoot in black and white, and what has inspired them to master the art form.

Some say coloured photography is "too real". Is that why you choose to shoot in black and white?

EWA-MARI JOHANSSON:
”Yes, I would agree that coloured photography is ’too real’. Black and white photos make you dream away and are more poetic. We need photos that make us think and question what we see. Especially today, as we are fed with so many coloured photos that we don’t even notice them.”

MASSIMO LEARDINI:
“I’m not sure why I started to shoot in black and white, but what I am sure of is that I’m not interested in colour, it’s too real… It’s all about the shape, structure, and light.”

FRED MORTAGNE:
”Colour photography can be totally unreal as well, I mean, sometimes too much, as we can often see on social networks. Even colour pictures shot in the pre-digital times with certain film stocks have a style attached to certain eras.

”For me, black and white was surely a way to escape from reality. But mainly, I was attracted by the timeless feel of it. It blurs the lines when the pictures were shot. I’ve often been asked why I shoot mainly in black and white. My first influences go back to when I was a little kid watching Charlie Chaplin movies. Back then, I thought that real life in the early 1900s was in black and white. I probably asked my parents when the switch to colour occurred! Those movies didn’t age an inch in a sense, they are timeless and universal, and I’m sure they would feel very strange in colour. By the way, I’m not into the colourization of old black and white movies.”

“I love how the blue, the green grass and the trees get grey. Also how people’s bodies and faces get grey. Together, everything melts together with nature and the world.” — MASSIMO LEARDINI

Massimo Leardini Untitled, 2020

Ewa-Mari Johansson Stella Tennant, 1997 - Backstage DKNY Donna Karan Show

“I use black and white in portraits to get the person’s soul to come through in the photo. With black and white, you can go deeper into the personality and seek the character.” — EWA-MARI JOHANSSON

Is there a time and place when black and white photography just always works, the photographic sweet spot?

FRED MORTAGNE:
“I’ve started to shoot a little bit more colour stuff now and then. It’s like I need a little change to not being fully restricted to black and white. I now think that black and white don’t always work. I always shoot with my viewfinder set on black and white, then when retouching, I realize that some images can be more powerful when edited in colour.

“Of course, this is all due to the fact that I can have access to edit in colour at a later stage with the RAW files. From 2013 to 2019, I strictly shot with my Leica M Monochrom camera and so I didn’t have a choice. Having restrictions is always good because you focus and work with what you have. Therefore, my mind was 100% focused on black and white and during that whole time I never regretted not having the option to shoot in colour. Because in black and white you think and shoot differently, at different things and subjects. I think we can say the same about analogue and digital photography. They are not exactly the same. As a director, I work completely differently whether I use video, Super 8 or 16mm film.”

EWA-MARI JOHANSSON:
“I think in street photography it always works, but also in portraits where you want to get the person’s soul to come through in the photo. With black and white, you can go deeper into the personality and seek the character.
”Personally, I even prefer fashion photography in black and white, it gives you the third dimension.”

MASSIMO LEARDINI:
“This is a personal question, I can only answer for myself. But black and white photography always works for me. I love how the blue, the green grass and the trees get grey. Also how people’s bodies and faces get grey. Together, everything melts together with nature and the world.”

Fred Mortagne UNTITLED

Massimo Leardini Untitled, 2006

“I never regretted not having the option to shoot in colour. Because in black and white you think and shoot differently, at different things and subjects.” — FRED MORTAGNE

Who do you think is the best black-and-white photographer ever?

EWA-MARI JOHANSSON:
“It’s very difficult to say who is the best black and white photographer, but I can mention four that are very special to me: Ansel Adams, Horst P. Horst, Imogen Cunningham and of course Brassaï (Gyula Halász)

“I worked with Horst P. Horst as a model, and it was very interesting to see how he did his lighting.

An honourable mention goes to my favourite photographer, Man Ray. He was also a fashion photographer and merged photography into the art world. His black-and-white photographs are very good, and he was a good friend of my teacher and mentor Arnold Eagle. Maybe not the best black-and-white photographer of all time, but a personal favourite.”

MASSIMO LEARDINI:
“Oh my god, what a difficult question to answer! Firstly because there are a lot of great colour image makers too, and secondly, black and white was the start of photography and most of the greatest photographer of the last century has shoot superb black and white. There are a lot of great photographers out there, but if I have to pick one, I choose William Klein. I also like Ralph Gibson and for more recent work Raimond Meeks and Mark Steinmetz.”

FRED MORTAGNE:
“That’s impossible to answer that question, there are way too many great masters of black and white photography! I never believe in the ’best’ or have a favourite for anything in life. Nor I am much into competition in general.

“But I can surely give you a whole lot of names: Henri Cartier Bresson, Joseph Koudelka, Willy Ronis, Giani Berengo Gardin, Elliott Erwitt, Lucien CLergue, Burk Uzzle, René Burri, Oriol Maspons, and I could go on.

“The black and white video works of Anton Corbijn also strongly influenced me when I was a teenager. For example, his Depeche Mode videos were really different from the rest, with very strong esthetics and photographic compositions. That’s why I asked him to write the foreword of my first book ‘Attraper Au Vol’.

Ewa-Mari Johansson Homage to Man Ray, 1996

Fred Mortagne UNTITLED