Black and White Landscapes

Although; I appreciate and enjoy every aspect of photography, my life-long favorite has always been the black and white landscape. As a photographic print judge for many years I was privileged to view hundreds of color and monochrome prints with outstanding impact, composition and superior technical quality. Though both can be top- notch, a properly produced black and white landscape can be awe inspiring. It may go back to the fine grain film and silver rich papers of the past compared to the unreliable films and resin coated papers of color. It can also be that artists such as Ansel Adams, Ed Weston and Paul Strand, just to name a few, created landscape masterpieces that will be around forever. Until recently, black and white photographs processed properly on archival paper had no limit as to age, whereas; color had an extremely short life. Many old color negatives, slides and pictures fade and eventually disappear after only twenty or thirty years. The only exception was Kodak's Kodachrome transparency film that is no longer manufactured but missed greatly. The black and white landscape will never die because it has a rich, mystical aura that sets it apart.