I suppose no photographer would take themselves seriously if they didn't show off some black and white. Honestly, in my learning curve as a photographer, I often converted to black and white to see what it looked like, and would sometimes keep the result. As I learned more, though, I learned that monochrome removes the distraction of the color, and lets the viewer focus only on the composition. By removing color, I could get people to look precisely where I wanted them to.