I think that derives from the big difference in cost between colour and B&W films and papers. Also, it is much easier for a beginner to process B&W than colour.
At the serious art schools we still start with the fundamentals and that is B&W film photography.
It seems absurd to say that this is still fundamental in 2014. Why not glass plates and collodion ?
There is also a year of digital photography required today. There wasn't when I attended.
It has nothing to do with ease. When I was in grad school at Johns Hopkins I spent what little spare time I had with my camera. I had a dark room in my closet and bathroom. Photography was a way to relax and unwind from the rigors of the intensity of my studies. Someone after seeing some of my work suggest I get some formal training so I went down to the Maryland Institute and College of Art to see about auditing some courses. The person I talked to told me that my work was "raw" which it was but "had potential." Since I had all the basic college courses, English Composition, Philosophy, etc. to satisfy the basics why didn't I just enter as a degree student since I would get credit for these courses. I did - spending many a night there. It was actually a break from my graduate studies. I ended up in about three years with a PhD (mathematical physics ) from Hopkins and a BFA from MIAC. Of course the math/physics degree paid more so that was my career path although I never quite gave up my photography.
However, what I learned at MIAC has been indispensable both in how I approach life and my appreciation of all art forms including photography.
The core art courses have noting to do with photography. They have to do with the history of art, sculpture and drawing. Form, composition and lighting are common in all art forms and history gives you a perspective of the evolution of these concepts and sculpture and drawing are good ways to develop you own sense. I suck at drawing but I made it anyway.
This is no different than a person going to a performing arts school like Juilliard or a music institute like Peabody. There is a lot you have to lean other than just playing a piano or banjo and if you master all you need to learn you will be able to play the piano and/or banjo much better.
In photography the lower levels concentrate on these three concepts while introducing how they are realized with a tool of a camera and lens. The key base courses here are history of photography and B&W film photography. There is no better way to develop these concepts in a photographic sense than B&W film. With B&W film you also develop the end to end process from the visualization of what you want to say with the image to the final realization in a print you tack on the wall.
The B&W process is fairly easy to learn and master which means the process doesn't get in the way of learning the important aspects of the art - form, composition and lighting. With B&W there are only three things - form, composition and lighting color doesn't exist to distract. With a firm foundation in this discipline you are ready to master other aspects from studio lighting, to color to now the digital tools and various forms of photography, advertising to landscape. However, at the end of the day without the proper foundation in the basics of form, composition and lighting - you won't get far in any art form - photography or otherwise.
I chose a landscape project for my senior project. My advisor and mentor was M. Richard Kirstel who studied under Minor White after spending part of the Korean war as a war photographer for the Navy. He was also a good friend of W. Eugene Smith who he had down on several occasions. He said - "I thought it would be Baltimore streets but landscape it is" and gave me the assignment of telling a story and making a statement about a local toxic waste dump. Not you typical landscape gig but I will say very challenging and very interesting.
As a tribute to my mentor
Caution some nudity and some potentially disturbing images. Some of his work did end up in a US Supreme Court case.
Notice in the portfolio "Florida" this is one of the few times he used a 35 mm camera. He took these shots of old folks as some say "coming to Florida to die" with a 35 mm using TriX and a very contrasty high grain developer. and extensive selenium toning of the prints. You think he was sending a message which was part subject and part interpretation? Of course he was. Isn't that the role of art in society.
As David said - B&W film is alive and well as a very vital art form. There are still new films introduced and there are third parities that produce the iconic films of the past. There are small companies that produce the old iconic developers plus new developers are being developed even now. British photographer Barry Thronton who has passed form us was a pioneer in new B&W developer technology.
You can find his developments anything else you want for black and white film at Photographer's Formulary.
I still do some film primarily using my Mamiya 645 and my 4x5. I, however, can produce effects with film and such highly dilute developers such as Rodinal (a very old formula) that I have yet figured out how to do with digital because while such tools as Silver Efex Pro are good - they aren't that good yet.
However, at the end of the day any camera (digital or film), film developer, paper (wet darkroom or inkjet printer ) is a tool used to express an emotion, tell a story or communicate a message from the photographer to the viewer and it is expressed in form, composition and lighting. Long after I am dead I a sure in the fine galleries of Carmel CA, Santa Fe, N.M, Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, New York City, London, etc there will be fine are black and white prints hanging from the walls.
