Last night, for a class assignment, I had to write a short paper over two Magnum Photographers: Paul Fusco and W. Eugene Smith. Probably because I’m graduating soon and starting to feel that angsty post-college resentment, the thought of writing a school paper turned me off at first. But I’m really glad I did it. I’m also really glad my roommate and I had a drink beforehand, because I got really into it.

Looking at the work of W. Eugene Smith and Paul Fusco made me long for the return of the monochrome days: A time when you couldn’t rely on color to make an image interesting– A time when black and white wasn’t cliché.

I had a clear favorite after studying the work of these two masters. While the works of Fusco were absolutely intriguing and absolutely important to the world and to photojournalism, I feel that they fall short of the classic beauty of Smith’s. I absolutely retract this statement, however, when discussing Fusco’s work in Chernobyl. Aside from their inherently beautiful black and white aesthetic, these photos contain something extraordinary, a sort of feeling that is expressed the way only a photo can.

It’s photos like this that make me wonder why people increasingly rely on audio to accompany their visuals. Don’t forget that a strong image can still speak louder than a hodge-podge of multimedia. Even in these ‘”Web 2.0″ days.