Portraits: Black and white or colour?

Portraits. Colour or black and white?

I sometimes do portraits on assignment. For assignments, these are decided by the client or art director. But when I do my own work, I have the option to decide which, and sometimes I am undecided. On prints, I often do prefer black and white.

Somehow, it helps me as the viewer and photographer focus on the essence of the person. I feel that by converting the photograph to black and white, the removal of colour allows a suspension of reality, distilling it.

What do you think. The following two portraits are photographed in Geneva...of master watchmaker Laurent Ferrier in his garden. It was a rather brisk morning...perhaps 6C.

Which do you prefer? Though in this case, strangely, I prefer the colour version.

With blue filter, reduced to 50% opacity, and converted to bw.