Adams said that the negative was like the musical score, and that printing was the performance - and I think this is fitting for black and white. In fact, with manual dodging and burning in the darkroom there actually is a physical performance to making a print (lots of waving of arms like a conductor).
I would say that the color capture is just a blueprint. Someone still needs to construct the building. The color capture is just a sketch that needs to be painted.
The explanation for this is pure mathematics: black and white - x number of variables. There are simply more - exponentially more - color variables. And, just about all of these color variables can be messed with (uh manipulated) in Photoshop.
Oh sure - composition - some idea of what the photograph is about - technique - still important in the color shot - but nowadays the color capture - whether it is for fine art, or commercial purposes - is just the beginning.
Do you remember contrast masks for film? Registration issues? Cross-processing?
Could you really do all this at home?
Now that we live in this grand undreamed of future - the color darkroom is just a program and a printer. Skill and imagination are just as important as they always were - but just as the blog has made everyone an author and publisher - the color printer and Photoshop have given everyone - a shot at doing sophisticated color work. And just as some blogs are going to keep you hooked by the author's skill - the same goes for the digital color darkroom. Oh, you know what I mean.
