Photographer Ted Grant, who's often described as the father of Canadian photojournalism, once wrote, "When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls."
I couldn't agree more. Sure, color photography does create infinite color-grading possibilities and allows for color theory to be employed to make a scientifically-pleasing photograph using complementary colors, and that can make for some truly amazing portraits. Most of the best portraits by Steve McCurry, one of the world's most renowned portraitists of all time, feature vivid color.
But there's just something about portraits taken on black and white film that speaks to me. They represent a purer form of portraiture for me, one free of distractions, gimmicks, and color science. If a subject, or "sitter" is properly lit, the only thing a photographer must do is make sure the subject's eyes are in focus and wait, shutter cocked, for the desired expression to appear on their face.
That's exactly what I did to capture this image of my girlfriend Kaitlyn. I snapped it while she was sitting on a bench at the New York Botanical Garden on my very first roll of black & white film stock. The light and shadows across her face, and more importantly, the openness and honesty in her gaze make it my favorite image I've ever taken on film.
