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!

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Black and white

Milla Jovovich

Vin - Perfusion oenologique - Série: Carnotzet

Laura And Naomi Mulholland Drive

Ocean Nightscape No.6

Ocean Nightscape No.2

Ex Abrupto 3

Spirit of Forest 24565

Spirit of Forest 23

Malasso

Ray Winstone (2000)

Depeche Mode

Bat For Lashes Halo

My Kid Just Ruined My Kaws

Queen / la corde cassée / La Villette / Paris

Forêt Enchantée

Hidden in Plain Sight

Corazon y alma (1)

MP323

Mujer de Viñales

Pow wow. Indiens. Amerique du nord.

Sadhus sur les ghats de Varanassi. Inde 1

Sadhus sur les ghats de Bénarès. Inde

Touareg. Ouarzazate. Maroc

Papouasie Nouvelle Guinée

Enfants pendant le rite initiatique. Tanzanie

Joueurs de cartes pendant le Holi Festival. Rajasthan. Inde

Femme Kényane. Kenya. Afrique

Femme Karo et son enfant. Ethiopie

Femme au miroir. Femme Mursi. Ethiopie

Enfants Kaeo. Vallée de L'Omo. Ethiopie

Femme Hamer. Marché. Ethiopie

Femmes Hamer au marché. Ethiopie

Femmes Hamer. Ethiopie

Lire dans les mains. Inde du nord

Femme voilée dans le Bengale occidental. Inde

Jeune Fille Indienne du Nord de l'Inde

Indiens Sioux. Pow Wow

Pow wow. Indiens. Amérique du nord 1

Pow wow. Indiens. Amérique du nord

Schumi. Le baron rouge en pole à Monaco. Michael Schumacher

Ayrton Senna. Brésil. Sao Paulo 1992

Concentration du pilote Mika Hakkinen. MacLaren

David Coulthard. MacLaren. Formule 1

Marquage 1363

Control

Sunflowers II

Sunflowers

MP465

MP187

MP338

MP003

Betta BW 44

La Densité du regard. Ayrton Senna

Champagne pour Ayrton Senna. Brésil 92

Réflexion avant course. Ayrton Senna

Regard Ayrton Senna

Préparatif Ayrton Senna

Mémoire de JingDeZhen Village 7

Mémoire de JingDeZhen village 6

Mémoire de JingDeZhen village YaoLi

Mémoire de JingDeZhen village II

Mémoire de JingDeZhen village

El Dandy

Te veo

Las Memorias

L'Envol