So don't set out and try to shoot a high contrast shot unless you find a good opportunity with the right lighting. Try shooting on an overcast day. It will soften the whites and blacks and result in a B&W image with more depth and gradient between the light and shadows.

The natural contrasts that come with black and white photography really bring into focus the texture of certain surfaces such as skin, fur, dirt, metal, wood, etc. in a way that color photography simply doesn't.

What is contrast? Contrast is the range of brightness, from lightest to darkest, in an image. A high-contrast image will have very bright highlights and very dark shadows. Sometimes an image's highlights may be almost pure white, or the shadows may be almost pure black: high contrast.