I have often wondered what makes black & white photographs so compelling. I'm not claiming to have figured it out, but I think B&W appeals more to our sense of imagination, than color does. Color answers what we wonder about in B&W photographs; it removes the mystery of what it might really be. B & W is real, but something has been removed...obviously, the color. And this leaves us open a bit, to wonder more...about something.
Take, for example, the two photos above; which is more compelling to look at? Perhaps the subtleties of photographic content bears the answer, but I wonder about the simple, intangible effects of B&W. Somehow (that professionals could likely easily explain), there is something that draws you more in the B&W photo.
Or, these samples...from here:
