Black and white
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Marche des Méréides
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$892
Anais
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,978
Panther Play
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
No44 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
Le Minou
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,978
Il latte
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,978
Banc de sable
Lesya Rozova
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,364
Udo could have been a woman like the others
Udo Roosen
Photography - 60 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,364
Over the Wall 3
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$739
Over the Wall 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$739
Motel Bathroom 2
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$739
Motel Bathroom 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$739
Série Backstage - F0597 – The alien
Idan Wizen
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$171
Ouverture
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,978
La Pousse
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
La Casa de Daniel
Paola Dávila
Photography - 22.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm Photography - 9 x 8 x 1 inch
$1,200
L'onde
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
Fuen en El Louvre, Paris (Identity Assertions Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$568
Kate Moss Venice Beach III
Christoph Martin Schmid
Photography - 44 x 33 cm Photography - 17.3 x 13 inch
$909
No man's land
Rossella Mercedes
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$318
Fairy under glass
Hollie Miller
Photography - 31.7 x 47.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 12.5 x 18.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Sisyphus
Hollie Miller
Photography - 47.5 x 32.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 18.7 x 12.8 x 0.1 inch
$1,250
No24 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
No58 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 150 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 59.1 x 0 inch
$4,661
Three Graces
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$3,353
Détente en famille
Jean-Louis Toutain
Sculpture - 30 x 68 x 38 cm Sculpture - 11.8 x 26.8 x 15 inch
$20,462
No16 Spirit Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
Jeune Nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
No55 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 96 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 37.8 x 0 inch
$2,978
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!