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In my humble opinion, color is distracting and one-dimensional...it takes away from the mood and emotion of a photograph. Black and white allows me to "feel" the photo through contrast and shadow.
My church takes an Easter photo of the congregation lined up outside the church. The collection going back to the 1920s and lines the walls of the Parish hall. It is amazing to look at the fashions. Careful study can even detect small changes from year to year since many would use Easter as an occasion to buy a new outfit. The photos were taken with a rotating lens camera. A vendor still made these photos in Houston into the 1990s, but they are now made with a regular wide angle lens. (So much for the trick of running around behind the camera to appear on both sides of the photo.)
Looking above I would bet that the bows on the front of the shoes might have been the latest thing in 1925.
Many of the pictures we've marveled over here at Shorpy can be seen in color at http://oreys.com/image/1092/USA_1940_1950.html. Warning: Possible NSFW links.
I assume most of these have been colorized, though there doesn't seem to be any information about the process. Some of the photos have been posted here in color, though the Oreys versions pale (literally) in comparison to the Shorpy versions.
Didn't see this picture on Oreys, BTW.
[Those aren't colorized. They're actual color photographs. - Dave]
Absolutely right. The top-stitching and handworked details on those coats are amazing. This is a photo I'd like to see in color.
What beautiful clothes! If only women these days could wear something similar and not be considered "weird."
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