'arty' pics: B&W or colour?
 

I'm mainly talking about pictures of naked women - arty type pictures, not xxx, fucking, or anything really sex-orientated. A good example of the stuff I mean is that from domai or MET (which is my personal favorite type of pic).

Some people I've debated this with say that a B&W pic allows you to focus on the woman and not just the tits etc, meaning you get more of the woman from the image and less lust/arousal.

Others, and this is the side of the fence I stand on, think that a B&W pic removes too much - you lose the warmth in a womans cheeks, the evident softness of the breasts, and the fullness of their smile, which are what really 'make' a pic for me. With B&W, the image is simply a woman with all personality removed, and to me at least, she becomes more of a sexual object and less of a real person. If you are going to look at a women purely for the lust etc, it wont really matter if the pic is B&W or colour, you are still going to see the same thing. But if you like to see the real women as well as the tits etc, then you need the colour.

What do you guys/gals think?

I've split the poll into guys and gals too, as I'm interested in whether there is a major difference - please be honest!

I love the properties of B&W... getting those absolute blacks and whites are essential tho... :)

Color seems warmer and more real. B&W has a cold, dull, alien feel to it. In my opinion.

"The difference between pornography and erotica is lighting."
-Gloria Leonard

b&w is like an abstract painting...it's hard to say whether the artist really is actually profound and thought provoking...or just bullshitting.

b&w has it's pluses...but a splash of colour is how i like it.

Black and white if done right.

depends on the material. But I think I'll have to give B&W the nod here...

i prefer color

for artsy type pics, i go with b&w. as far as nudes of chicks and stuff, then i like sephia tones or tungsten based films. they cause you to focus on the subject, rather than the subject's tits.

to tell the truth if it's done right I like both, but that wasn't an option

When I see black and white, I think of it more as art.

I prefer black and white for artsy pictures. I tend to look at the whole picture first. Composition, setting, pose. If it's in color I focus in on the tits and ass first then maybe look at the picture as a whole.

colored. gives you something to focus on

I didn't vote 'cos I agree with everyone (!?). Both colour and mono (not necessarily black & white) have their strengths, and in creating a truly striking image the photographer uses various options available.

When I was working in photography (many, many years ago, when you actually had to focus a camera yourself), I was an admirer of Carlos Clark's work. He was a great one for hand colouring and retouching mono images in a minimalist way. The combination of the mono print but going through black to white in shades of green or blue, with perhaps just the model's eyes, lips and nails coloured was striking.

Mike.

For the pure art, B&W is much better. If you retouch some parts to show color, as miked10270 stated, that really rocks. So basically if you want to stay away from a porn type product, B&W is the way to go.

Well, I'm quite surprised. I much prefer colour, but the majority seem to favour B&W .Why then, do we virtually never see websites full of B&W images? Why do 99.9% of the postings in links board or titty board feature colour sets? Interesting!

Opinions please?

Love black and white, and, although I don't take pictures of nekkid ladies, I do take a lot of my pictures in b&w.

I like the DOMAI style too, which seems to be more of coloured pics. But al though i voted colour, that doesn't mean that i don't like B&W.

I would say it depends on the theme you're trying to portray. Colour might give a sense of "life", exuberance, etc etc. B&W will cut out the distractions of colour and focus upon the subject.

Basically, that's how i think when i take pictures... although i have not done any atritistic nude photography (i'm hoping to soon, though) but that's my approach to all photographic themes.

I think you've just answered my question! Most porn etc is trying to give the viewer a sense of the women being there, and the more "life" they can convey in the picture the better. Contrary, B&W is very much about art, portraits etc, and hence the idea is to remove as much of the colour and life from the picture as poss. I don't mean that badly - I just mean it is trying to help the viewer look at the image as artwork, not porn or erotica etc.

Interesting!!

Quite simply: B&W = Artistic; Colour = Pornography. When we're talking about what makes money for porn sites, it's not artistic pictures. It's the raunchiest pornography they can find! :)

Personally, I prefer B&W photo's over colour any day - whether it's a photo of a naked woman or a farmhouse... In fact, I prefer B&W movies too! I guess it just makes me long for the "simpler times" in the early 20th century, which I have romanticized and idealise.

They are both strong media. Each picture must be evaluated on it's own because of lighting tone and desired level of contrast. Color offers more variables with allows an artist more avenue of expression and manipulation of the image. B&W exagerates forms and textures because you're breaking them down into two colors and a range of grays. Litho takes you to absolute black and absolute white. Photography is such an incredible media because it's about the momment. Any one can have that momment but the artist can make the momment into many types of experiences.

I love color and black and white. It depend what I am after in the end. One is no greater than the other.

Definitely a black and white person... I've never done any but wish I had. Black and White gives a photo personality.

the beauty of chiaroscuro (shadows and highlites in lighting) is what makes black and white so much more for me..

edward weston's print of a female nude is stripping down female beauty for what its worth. it is not sexualized or objectified. it just is. in black and white.

<img src="http://www.edward-weston.com/nudes/seated_nude_227n_lg.jpg">

Depends on the Photographer. Some work better in collor some in B&W. If I had to choose I would say I prefer B&W.

I think I prefer black and white photos of anything, not just naked women. There's just something beautiful about black and white pictures.

As far as artwork goes I prefer black and white (or a good mono.) I got into nudes when dating this girl, but I ended up paying a little more attention to nude sculpture after that.

im a guy, and I definately prefer black and white. but I like B&W with most photography nude female or not.

Generally speaking, I prefer B&W.
A well done continuous tone photo is a thing of beauty in itself.
There's something about it that transforms the subject into something more sculptural.
As art, the B&W photo has more impact, because it helps transform the way we see the subject...
Like Anti Fishstick mentioned, Edward Weston is a good example of this transformation to the sheer asthetic form.
I always think of his "erotic" pepper pictures :
http://www.stetson.edu/~rsmolkin/pepper.jpg

I prefer art when it doesn't look like art.
So therefore I like color better.

I used to set my Mac to greyscale, then have my image browser display through the images I'd downloaded, which made them a bit more interesting. Even the hardcore seemed classier in B&W.

ART - I think you've managed to sum up what I feel, but couldn't find a good way of saying it. I'm still surpirsed at the results - I thought it would be something like 70/30 in favour of colour!

Good B&W is all about lighting and shadows. A truly good photographer generally prefers B&W because it showcases his talents. Look at Avedon. We as a society have become so color-drenched, sometimes the true art in a photograph is lost in the "pretty picture" aesthetic. Interesting however is that B&W is making a comeback (maybe because of Martha Stewart, I don't know) but Kodak has introduced a B&W disposable camera. That should tell you something. When you see a really beautiful B&W, it will take your breath away. Color doesn't often do that, but you can't beat it for panorama.