For over 100 years, B&W prints were the only method of photographic expression. And possibly for that reason they are still perceived by some as being the only avenue of fine art photographs, depending on how you want to define fine art. For me it's not better or worse than colour, but just another creative outlet. B&W images communicate differently because the distraction of colour has been eliminated. You also find out more quickly whether your composition is total rubbish or not.
Most of the collections here were intentionally created as sets, originally for a club competition of a set of five monochrome prints. Realizing the benefit of shooting for even a small collection (working to more fully explore the subject or to tell a little story that a single image can't), this has become part of the thought process when out shooting and a reason to return to the same location when possible. Brooks Jensen in LensWork magazine, among others, has been preaching the benefit of shooting for sets for years, publishing larger ones in the magazine, but also in the few years of the Seeing in Sixes book projects.