In the days when film photography was the only option, you would choose a roll of colour or black and white film and that would be that.  You would know beforehand in which medium a photograph was going to come out which would in turn influence how you take it. I remember spending hours in the darkroom perfecting each photograph one by one.

With digital photography , we can of course decide beforehand whether we envisage it in black and white or colour but we always have the option to decide later. This makes the creative process quite different as we are filled with more choices.

I do think that certain photos just work and are stronger in black and while others lose their vibrancy, however there are a few in my portfolio that I still can’t decide which way works better.

For example, this photo which I took 10 years ago and I love because though it looks posed, was completely  spontaneous has always been in my portfolio in black and white. I was sure it gave his face and expression more focus.  Recently while looking back on unedited work, I came across the original and now wonder why I didn’t keep it as it is.

It’s interesting how much our visual perception and taste change over time.