"The classic high contrast B&W photography is having a renaissance. Look at that work of masters like W. Eugene Smith, Robert Cappa, Henri Cartier-Bresson. Take a look at magnum photos (magnumphotos.com) at the work of the members doing the 40's, 50's and 60's during the heyday of that style. It is related to the film noir style in movies of the same era, e.g., Casablanca or any other of the Bogart films.
With black and white film the style was accomplished by underexposure followed by longer than normal development. This style long dominated street photography and was the mainstay of the war correspondences that dominated WWII, Korea and even Vietnam, e.g., Robert Capa, W. Eugene Smith. It can produce a stark, high emotion image when executed correctly.
It is worth practicing and developing an eye for when to use it."
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While it is a style, IMHO doubt it was originally developed for artistic reasons. In the 40's and 50's Kodak Tri-X was one of the fastest, most sensitive films. A fairly slow film to shoot photojournalism with - especially low light or night scenes. Pushing film was a way to bring back useable images. Art photographers borrowed the technique later. Nothing wrong with this. It can be a fine tool.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla
