Haunting Black & White Photos and the Human Psyche

denmarkguy (76)in #psychology • 5 years ago

Recently, @kus-knee held a contest inviting people to post pictures of "spooky trees."

Out of that contest, came the next question: "Are images scarier in Black & White?" Link to the post below:

https://steemit.com/contest/@kus-knee/the-old-dog-asks-are-images-scarier-in-black-and-white

In some sense, I believe that's true, because we may have been culturally "conditioned" to think that way. A lot of "cheap" horror movies were done in black-and-white, and it's easy to heighten a "mood" by using a black-and-white photo.

The photo above is a variation of my entry into @kus-knee's contest.

But (as I also wrote in a comment on his post) I could also ask the question "Are images more artistic in Black & White?" and the very nature of the question would lead to you look at the tree from different state of mind.

Now that you are looking at the tree from an artistic standpoint... is it still "scary" looking?

The famous photographer Ansel Adams shot entirely in black & white, and his photos were dramatic, beautiful and artistic... but "scary" is certainly not what comes to MY mind.

One thing I submit about Black & White photography is that is stretches our minds more... our subconscious has to "fill in" the color, from some sort of memory... and perhaps from our imagination. What does our imagination dictate? Is a "liquid looking" patch in an image... water? Or blood? Without context, we can't tell... our imagination fills it in.

What do YOU think? How do you feel about Black & White photos? Scary? Artistic? Neither? Are you moved/not moved by them? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190221 01:20 PST; Posted via Steepshot.io
0906