Rather it is about how the light reveals those things. As any beginning photography student knows, a cube can be lighted so that it almost disappears or so that it is virtually three dimensional. The key is the light. These images were not manipulated in PhotoShop or other graphics software. All these effects were created with traditional photographic adjustments in a basic darkroom program.
Color photography is a relatively recent invention.
Taking pictures in color means that it is not only the intensity of the light, but also the color of the light that creates the image. Yet color is not simple. For example, a scene may include several light sources which have their own particular color. There are many subtle aspects to working with color film. For the first time the photographer could see exactly what the lens saw.