I just don’t think that color photographs always do justice to the colors in the real world. They just seem to be off by a little bit, every time. 
The black and white photos with their shades of grey just seem to capture the reality of the situation much better, even though there is no real color in them.

So many images are better in monochrome! As you say pleasing on the eye. Able to draw attention to detail without gimmickery, in my opinion. My favorite headshots are b&w (shot on film) and really stand out on pages awash in cold, everyday color.

TNStacker

Photography

Is photography an underrated art?

Curiously

Perhaps, overrated. I have done color correction for graphics and found that the colors the camera catches are very different from the real life colors your eye catches. I think black and white photos are the best and really underrated, though. Done right, black and white photos are very beautiful and pleasing to the eye.