The Photographer's projects are in black in white in order to better emphasize the deliberate sequencing of the work. They are furthermore inspired by Robert Frank's statement that 'Black and white are the colors of photography...they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.'
There Will Be No Miracles Here
Takovsky has something to say about colour and black and white as well. "In real life, he said, "we don't notice color. A black-and-white film immediately creates the impression that your attention is concentrated on what is most important. On the screen color imposes itself on you, whereas in real life that only happens at odd moments, so it's not right for the audience to be constantly aware of color. Isolated details can be in color if that is what corresponds to the state of the character on the screen. In real life the line that separates unawareness of color from the moment when you start to notice it is quite imperceptible. Our unbroken, evenly paced flow of attention will suddenly be concentrated on some specific detail. A similar effect is achieved in a film when colored shots are inserted into black-and-white."
Tarkovsky continues: "Color film as a concept uses the aesthetic principles of painting, or color photography....it becomes a moving painting. It's all too beautiful, and unlike life. What you see in cinema is a coloured, painted plane, a composition on a plane. In a black-and-white film there is no feeling of something extraneous going on, the audience can watch the film without being distracted from the action by colour."