40+ Stunning Black And White Photographs

Color is beautiful, no doubt about it. In fact, here at Elite By Design we’ve shown off a lot of very neat galleries filled with bright and vibrant colors – but not today. Black and white is the new focus, with photographs that have the ability to convey messages and meanings with no color as they put more focus on lighting, angle, and contrast.

Here are forty stunning black and white photographs to help inspire you to look beyond color and see the true meaning of a photograph. Click each thumbnail to see the larger image on the original site.

All photos are property of their owner.



  • This post was written by Brian
  • Website: http://elitebydesign.com
  • About: Brian is a blogger and web designer at Elite By Design. He has been blogging for over a year providing quality design-related articles for the community.
21 Comments RSS
  1. Reply Tracey GradyNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    What a great idea for an inspiration collection. I am especially impressed by the photograph of the girl with the cigarette – powerful and hard to forget. The very best of black and white photography demonstrates how much can be conveyed with minimal colour.

  2. Reply Ron PykeNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    Thanks so much for including one of my photos in this great selection!

  3. Reply BrianNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    @Tracey Grady:
    You’re right, that is a very powerful and compelling image. Black and white is quite interesting, it conveys meaning and emotions without the need for vibrant “eye-candy,” which is what makes this style so classic and interesting.

    @Ron Pyke:
    No problem, thank you for your photographs!

  4. Reply mabeLNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    great photos.
    white & black : my cool life :)

  5. Reply wallpapersNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    stunning indeed – and sometime disturbing

  6. Reply BrandonNo Gravatar said on November 26th, 2008

    I love black and white – very awesome list!

  7. Reply creativeherbNo Gravatar said on November 27th, 2008

    Nice collection! Almost forgot how powerful black and white images are. Kind of like how it’s very easy to forget the quiet beauty around you sometimes.

  8. Reply BrianNo Gravatar said on November 27th, 2008

    @mabeL:
    @wallpapers:
    @Brandon:
    @creativeherb:
    Thanks for the comments everyone, I’m really glad you enjoyed the post, and I certainly hope you were inspired in some way!

  9. Reply gelay JamtshoNo Gravatar said on November 28th, 2008

    nice.

  10. Reply Dainis GraverisNo Gravatar said on November 29th, 2008

    Nice and really impressive picks…:)

  11. Reply MitternachtNo Gravatar said on November 30th, 2008

    Excellent collection, really. Pure black and white contrast is stunning. Your collection also makes me feel like exploring the square format more. Very interesting, thank you.

  12. Reply brainpickerNo Gravatar said on December 1st, 2008

    Amazing, all of them, but my favorite has to be the freckled girl with the shawl. Stunning.

  13. Reply Osvaldo PieroniNo Gravatar said on December 9th, 2008

    Thanks for adding my photo !!! I’m really honored to be on this great B&W collection !!

  14. Reply ??????No Gravatar said on April 26th, 2009

    ???? ???????? ?????????? ??????? ?????????, ?????? ??????????? ? ??????? ????????????? ??????.
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