Black and white
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David Bowie, NYC 1983
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Boy George, NYC 1983
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Debbie Harry NYC 1976
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Tin Machine NYC 1989
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
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
Robert Plant NYC 1974
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Kiss close up, NYC, 1975
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
The Rolling Stones, NYC 1980
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Queen, MSG, NYC 1977
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Silent Dreams
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$778
La furia del manton
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$778
El campesino
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,040
Maelstrom Series 77
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 92 x 92 cm Fine Art Drawings - 36.2 x 36.2 inch
$3,205
Miles Davis le célèbre trompettiste en 1967 en Concert à la Salle Pleyel - série Jazz
Philippe Gras
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,066
Durer chez l'ocultiste
Bruno Mallart
Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 22 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.7 x 8.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,122
Free Play 06 (Vulnerable)
Hengki Koentjoro
Photography - 43 x 43 x 0.02 cm Photography - 16.9 x 16.9 x 0 inch
$1,066
Magnetic Radiation 99 (Medium)
Seb Janiak
Photography - 120 x 90 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 inch
$4,579
The fire and the infinity #2 (from the "The fire and the infinity" series)
Saverio Filioli Uranio
Painting - 32 x 24 x 0.1 cm Painting - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0 inch
$180
The Picture Frame Westminister Bridge
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Poesia Invernale, Fontana di Trevi, 1956
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,851
N°150-03 13 (NG28)
Nicolas Galtier
Painting - 150 x 150 x 4 cm Painting - 59.1 x 59.1 x 1.6 inch
$6,507
Mère et enfant
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$3,366
The Muppets Backstage
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,076
Inisheer Limestone Walls
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
John Lennon Skiing
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Guy The Gorilla Regent's Park London
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Margaret Thatcher Apealing To The People
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Mick Jagger Forty Licks
Arthur Steel
Photography - 61 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 3
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,047
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 5
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Captivated Audience
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Chauffeurs Feast Twickenham
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,047
Crash Call Phone Box
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,047
Crash Test Dummies
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Careless Whispers
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 4
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Horseshoes Pile Luck Of The Irish
Arthur Steel
Photography - 61 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Ice Skating Priests
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Big Ben Big Bang
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,047
Himba Beauty
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Bashung / Rio Grande
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
$1,571
Vingt-quatre premiers sonnets de Shakespeare dans la traduction de Yves Bonnefoy n°367
Zao Wou-Ki
Print - 35 x 28 cm Print - 13.8 x 11 inch
$4,263
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!