Black and white
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Robert Plant et Jimmy Page
Jean-Pierre Roux
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
$1,120
Marguerite Duras
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$3,282
Barman danseur
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$3,282
Too busy surviving to be angry
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,829
How do I have so many debts!
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,829
Don’t let me starve
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,829
I’m sure you did what you could
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,829
Baiser noir et blanc
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$3,282
Karl Largerfield soirée Kenzo
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$3,282
Dans le Metro
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,037
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$170
Steinerene Rinne, Wilder Kaiser, Nordwärts
Peter Neusser
Photography - 122 x 87 cm Photography - 48 x 34.3 inch
$3,621
Lévitation Effect 003
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$690
Contemplum #017
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 33 x 50 x 0.03 cm Photography - 13 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$962
Contemplum #013
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$736
Contemplum #012
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$736
Contemplum #011
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$736
Contemplum #010
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 33 x 50 x 0.03 cm Photography - 13 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$962
Contemplum #009
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 50 x 33 x 0.03 cm Photography - 19.7 x 13 x 0 inch
$962
Personnage en colère
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 14 x 23 cm Fine Art Drawings - 5.5 x 9.1 inch
$1,245
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie (1) (7)
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$283
Yoko Ono in black ribbed sweater, Central Park, NY 1973
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, MSG, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Mick Jagger, MSG, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Mick Jagger, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Patti Smith & Lou Reed, Ocean Club, NYC 1976
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Yoko Ono, Record Plant, NYC 1972
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Johnny Rotten & Sid Vicious, Europe, 1977
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Jon Bon Jovi, Moscow 1989
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
John Lennon contact sheet, NYC 1975
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Joe Strummer and Gaby, NYC, 1981
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Bernie Taupin and Elton John, NYC 1971
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Clash & Bo Diddley, Agora Ballroom, Cleveland OH, 1979
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie (1) (1)
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$283
Lost & Found (2)
Théo Gosselin
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$2,490
Black Sabbath NYC 1971
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Desvelando Gaudí 010
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$679
Desvelando Gaudí 08
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$679
Eternel Retour
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$611
Cinematography inspired session #25
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$215
Cinematography inspired session #3
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$215
Cinematography inspired session #2
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$215
La fille du roi de Birmanie réfugiée au Siam
The opium smoking white elephant
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
$905
Black and white
Before the arrival of photography – with the exception of some etchings and lithographs – all the images we consumed were in colour. Quite simply, because no one would ever have thought to do anything else – why paint in black and white when colour was so readily available?
Yet despite this, today many photographers still choose to work in black and white – such as Pauline Théon, Kadir Von Lohuizen or Joh Lowenstein – even though their photos are taken in colour by the camera itself. Is the black and white trend a fleeting effect of fashion, or a symbolic return to the roots of the photography movement? Black and white photography has something that colour photos, despite recent innovations and the extraordinary quality of images today, cannot quite access. The use of black and white lends significant force to the composition: the contrasts, the shadows and the figures all stand out more strongly. People simply feel differently when faced with a colour photo versus a black and white image.
Colour is a distraction of sorts, a disturbance: colour is a nuisance.
And yet, some photographers still prefer colour to black and white, whilst others merge touches of colour with otherwise monochrome compositions. But in the end, all agree that both styles impose a totally different way of looking at a photo: from researching the shot to post production work, when artists develop or retouch the image. The use of colour is therefore something of a process in its own right, relating to two different ways of viewing the world and showing it others. The question, then, is what is being told, and why is it being in the way that it is?
The symbolic value of putting black and white together is a good starting point for reflecting on the fascination that they generate even today. There could not be a more fascinating, more striking ambivalence than when black, the 'colour' of darkness and burnt coal, considered a non-colour, is placed alongside white – representing light, and the result of all the colours merged together.
The problem faced by photographers today is that black and white still carry strong connotations of the past, of an era before the popularisation of colour and its massive cultural recovery amongst the press and photo journalists. In fact, it is rare now that contemporary subjects are photographed in colour, but we still associate black and white images with a retro feel.
So what does contemporary art have to say about it all? Discover Artsper's selection of black and white works: on the border of past and present, of the real and the imaginary… let us guide you!