Desaturate A Colour Photograph:
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast - Brightness +13; Contrast: +14
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast - Brightness +41; Contrast: +49
Image>Adjustments>Desaturate
Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast - Brightness: -3; Contrast +17
I think the change from colour to black-and-white changed the message being sent by each image. The fashion model went from being "defiantly in my face" to "doing her own thing". The lack of colour seemed to make her fashion statement a matter-of-fact one, rather than a shout.
The children seemed to get sadder in the black-and-white photo than they were in the colour one. The lack of colour emphasized the differences between our lives and the lives of the children. It makes their world seem starker and more harsh than perhaps it really is.
The wedding photo, I think, gained from being desaturated. It gave a more historical, and perhaps more romantic, view of getting married.
Reminder
These images are copywritten by myself where applicable, and fall under Canadian "Fair Dealing" laws where I didn't create the image.