In the Style of Truth.

By ignoring color, black-and-white photographs depict an abstract surreality — one that has become strongly associated with an iconic truthiness. In this RealAudio clip, NPR talks with Naitonal Geographic Society photographer Chris Rainier about Kodak’s black-and-white Tri-X film. Tri-X was a technical innovation that allowed faster shutter speeds so pictures could be taken without flash in a wider range of situations. “It became the film of choice for everything from fashion to combat photography.... It also has a sort of graininess to it that we all now, in the beginning in the 21st century... associate with many of the most historically important events over the last 50 years.” (via)

Wikipedia on Tri-X: “Since the advent of digital photography it has all but fallen out of use in newspaper journalism. Apart from possible use in educational establishments, it still remains reasonably popular in documentary journalism.”