[yokai]

For the sake of showing, I took a photo of it made it black and white.
It's actually natural (vingette and noisewise), and the paper isn't really 100% white. In combination with a poor lamp, as I could not be arsed to set up the lamps at night, it was very yellow.

Yes, but it is not dark brown with gray mixed in. That and there is no such thing as "natural vignette or noise". Its an effect by digital media, and the image you showcase in this thread has both of them. The noise might not be intentional, but the vignette is. (That or you use a stock texture for the background without noticing the vignette.)