Pre-1970s, photography was all about black and white. Color photography was denigrated as something for amateurs. Black and white was the origin of photography and it has become its virtue. Color represented the mundane and typical, while black and white represented what was unusual and artsy. How that has dramatically changed now! Almost all photos and films are in color nowadays. We change values and reflect that in our art.
References
Tillman, L. (2017, June 29). Blue Shores. The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/06/29/blue-shores/