The timelessness of black-and-white family photography

For nearly 1.5 years now I've been co-working with fellow family photographer Maki once a week – and for a while now we've talked about me photographing a Year In The Life for her family. As we were finalizing the "paperwork", she sent me a text that I grabbed this snippet from:

"Please do all black-and-white if you prefer. Do you remember that I wanted more color at [our] first [session]? I was looking at the album again, and now I love [the black-and-white photos]. It's funny now that time has passed, I don't care if the photo is in BW or color. It's interesting how my perspective changed. Maybe black-and-white has a more timeless feeling?"

- Maki (photographer and mom of one)

I have a few theories on why black-and-white might feel more appealing after some time has passed:

1. They help us effortlessly connect with what was going on in the moment, without getting us too distracted with what was in style

2. They draw focus to the person – their action or emotion – not their appearance

3. They let us connect to how we are still the same in some ways (as a person), while colors might make us reflect on how things have changed (in looks)

A cohesive collection of black-and-white photographs is very pleasing to the eye in a photo book, too, don't you think?