Black and white or colour portraits?

Almost all my PAUSE portraits are in black and white. That’s no accident, and it’s not a trend. It’s a deliberate choice I make with every session. Sometimes I make an exception.

Black and white or colour for a portrait? For me, that choice starts with what you want to see. Does the setting have something to say? Is there something about the colour of someone’s clothes worth keeping? Or is that shirt just drawing attention to itself?

This is how I think about it. No fixed rule, just a way of making the choice. Though I clearly have a preference. I’m hardly keeping that a secret.

Colour tells you where you are

Someone’s red coat, the blue wall, the warm evening sun. Colour places a person in their surroundings and gives a photo atmosphere. It works beautifully for lifestyle photography, branding photography and family photos.

Those colours tell you something about the place and the moment. A warm evening feels different from a morning in cool daylight. Even with the same person sitting in the same chair. Remove the colour and you lose some of that information.

And sometimes colour is simply part of who someone is. An item of clothing can tell you something you wouldn’t immediately see in their face. I’d think it a shame to turn that grey without a second thought.

What black and white leaves behind

Black and white removes the distraction of colour. You’re left with light, shadow and the person. Texture stands out. Expressions become clearer. For me, a black and white portrait asks more of you as a viewer, but gives more back too.

That’s why I choose black and white for PAUSE. The sessions are about who someone is, rather than what the studio looks like or what they wore that day. I deliberately limit what’s in the photo so you can see more.

You can see the effect in my black and white portraits. Where does your eye linger when colour no longer has a say?

You still see the light

In black and white, you notice what the light does to a face. Where it comes from, how a shadow falls across a cheek, how much contrast there is between light and dark. The colour of the light no longer competes for attention.

In colour, that’s part of what you see. The warm light of golden hour can soften a portrait. Cool daylight gives it a different atmosphere. With mixed lighting, several colours of light can appear together. That might feel right for the setting, or it might make the photo feel cluttered.

So black and white isn’t a fix for every tricky lighting situation. Messy lighting can become more obvious once the colour goes. A photo that feels pleasant in colour because of its warmth can have very little left in black and white.

Skin takes on a different emphasis

Colour shows the tone and warmth of someone’s skin. That includes redness, blemishes and sunburn. They can draw your attention when you’d rather be looking at someone’s expression.

Black and white can make skin look more even because differences in colour are less prominent. At the same time, texture can become clearer. Wrinkles become lines of light and shadow, freckles become light and dark shapes. So black and white doesn’t automatically mean a smoother face.

You lose something too. The warmth or tone of someone’s skin is part of how they look. I think that deserves consideration. A more even appearance isn’t automatically better if it means losing something you wanted to see.

How much of the setting belongs in the portrait?

In environmental portraits, the setting has a part to play. Where someone works, for example. Colour can make the surroundings more recognisable or give you a sense of the season. The face doesn’t have to hold all your attention all the time.

With a simple, studio-style background, I’m more interested in keeping the focus on the person. Black and white can make them feel a little less tied to the place and time the photo was taken.

At least the colour of that chair is no longer asking for attention. That suits my PAUSE portraits.

An expression has no fixed colour

When I make a portrait, I want you to look at the eyes. Black and white helps me with that. A mouth or the way someone holds their hands can also stand out more when colour takes up less of your attention. A portrait tells you more than a face alone.

Still, a photo doesn’t automatically become more emotional when it’s in black and white. Colour can provide warmth that you miss once it’s gone. A portrait can feel cooler or more distant in black and white.

So I prefer to look at the expression that’s already there. Does the choice make it easier to see? A serious expression doesn’t need black and white to make it serious.

When the shirt arrives before the person

A bold shirt catches your eye. So does a bright wall. And a colourful background can make itself so prominent that the face has to join the back of the queue.

Then I ask myself what that colour adds. If you see the shirt before the eyes, that shirt has quite a say in how you look at the photo. In my portraits, I usually want it the other way round.

That’s why choosing what to wear is part of preparing for a portrait session. It doesn’t mean all your clothes have to be understated. It does mean they play a part, even when you’re mostly thinking about your face.

What you lose without colour

A recognisable piece of clothing, a flower, a shade you associate with someone. Sometimes that colour is what tells the story. Remove it and the object is still visible, but it’s less clear why it matters.

Two colours can also look very different yet become much the same grey in black and white. A photo that comes alive through that difference can suddenly feel flat. The person might actually stand out less from the background.

That’s a reason for me to put my preference aside for a moment. Black and white has to add something to the photo. Otherwise, I’m letting my own taste get in the way.

When do I choose colour?

Sometimes colour suits the person better. If someone expresses part of their identity through their clothes or surroundings, I sometimes photograph them in colour. But with PAUSE, that’s the exception.

For headshots, the considerations are different. For LinkedIn or business websites, colour often works better because it feels more approachable and looks more professional in a business setting.

Where the photo will appear matters too. On a business website, a portrait sits alongside other photos and the company’s colours. So I consider how it will be used. My preference for black and white doesn’t need to have the final say everywhere.

Four questions to help you choose

If you’re unsure, these questions can help you put into words what you want from the photo:

• Where should your eye go first: the eyes, the clothes, or the surroundings too?
• Where will the photo be used: on the wall, on LinkedIn or on a business website?
• What does the colour add? Does it tell you something about the person, or mainly draw attention to itself?
• How long do you want the portrait to look good? Are you happy for it to belong to a particular moment, or do you want it to feel less tied to one?

You don’t need a complicated explanation. Sometimes the answer is simply that the red coat is part of who that person is.

My advice if you’re unsure

Go for black and white. Black and white doesn’t date. A black and white portrait from 1985 still looks good today.

The same portrait in colour has a distinct whiff of the eighties ;-)

➜See my PAUSE portraits: black and white portrait photography in Wijchen
➜ Looking for a headshot in colour? See the headshot options