Yes—black-and-white still makes sense, but mainly as an artistic choice rather than a technical necessity. Color is usually better when color itself is a key part of the image, such as sunsets or rainbows. But monochrome can be stronger when color would distract from the subject, form, light, texture, or mood.

A black-and-white treatment often simplifies an image and emphasizes shape, contrast, expression, and tonal range. That’s one reason it can work especially well for portraits, where removing clothing and background colors can put more attention on the person.

Many classic images remain powerful in black and white, which shows that monochrome can stand on its own visually. Today, photographers often shoot in color or RAW and convert later, because editing software gives very fine control over how colors translate into tones.

So the question isn’t whether black and white is outdated—it isn’t. The real question is whether removing color helps the image say what you want more clearly.