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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Diane K, Pharrell B&W, Toni Garnn II. Photo intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 85.8 x 186.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33.8 x 73.5 x 0.1 inch
$12,000
Elizabeth Olsen and Elizabeth Banks, Diptych Intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 85.8 x 124.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33.8 x 49 x 0.1 inch
$8,000
Celebrating Life - #3
Giacomo Pirozzi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$834
Jamie Dornan and David Gandy, Diptych. Intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 85.8 x 124.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33.8 x 49 x 0.1 inch
$8,000
Toni Garnn and Jennifer Lopez, Diptych. Intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 85.8 x 124.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 33.8 x 49 x 0.1 inch
$8,000
Jamie Dornan and Antonio Banderas, Diptych. Intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 166 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 65.4 x 0.1 inch
$10,000
Couple - série scène de vie figurative
Dominique Cahier
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,419
Brooklyn Bridge - L
Fabrice Gallou
Photography - 50 x 75 x 2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.8 inch
$715
Vers nulle part
Yoland Rafougilet
Photography - 61 x 46 x 2 cm Photography - 24 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$691
Peché originel
Yoland Rafougilet
Photography - 61 x 46 x 2 cm Photography - 24 x 18.1 x 0.8 inch
$691
Point de vue / Megève hameau de Vauvray Winter
Adrianna MJW
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$596
Zouin My Maroc #10
Karine Nicolleau
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$596
Zouin My Maroc #9
Karine Nicolleau
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$596
Zouin My Maroc #8
Karine Nicolleau
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$596
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$870
Old man with new hat
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$900
Small talks II
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$870
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
$954
Rotondità, 1963 (Rondeurs)
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,967
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
$1,967
Uomini dell’ombra, 1962 (les hommes de l’ombre)
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
$1,967
Ballerina III
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$232
Le Bistrot du Coin
Carlo Maiolini
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,967
Les Grandes Ombres
Carlo Maiolini
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,431
Alter Ego, Attitude Negative
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 71.1 x 66.3 x 0.5 cm Photography - 28 x 26.1 x 0.2 inch
$1,850
C'est ici que j'ai perdu mes contours
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 100 x 120 x 2 cm Photography - 39.4 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
$2,623
Architectural Abstract 7
Beyti Barbaros
Photography - 50 x 150 x 3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
$1,999
Paul McCartney NYC
Bob Gruen
Photography - 57.2 x 61 x 2.5 cm Photography - 22.5 x 24 x 1 inch
$2,950
Tina Turner, 1970, NYC
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.5 inch
$2,950
Shopping on 57th and 6th
John Migicovsky
Photography - 30.5 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 12 x 16 x 0.5 inch
$800
Fifth Avenue Admiral
John Migicovsky
Photography - 30.5 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 12 x 16 x 0.5 inch
$800
30's Sensuality
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$215 $193
Trinità dei Monti, Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,967
Gita in famiglia, Promenade en famille, Thaïlande
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 70 x 110 x 0.5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 43.3 x 0.2 inch
$2,730
Tradizioni scomparse, Hong Kong 1958
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 110 x 70 x 0.5 cm Photography - 43.3 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
$2,730
Billiards, Toronto
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,967
Uomini e Cappelli, 1955 - New York
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,967
14 juillet 1936 - Rue Saint Antoine Paris
Willy Ronis
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$3,457
Story of Love N°17 - Size M
Anna Laza
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$656
Gaudí 028
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 60 x 80 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 inch
$954
Où est Charlie ? II
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$584
Blues d'Eiffel
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$584
Rien de grave
Eugenia Jaeger
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 59 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 23.2 inch
$834
Cra04 - Series from Crave
Burak Bulut Yildirim
Photography - 50 x 70 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 inch
$1,867
Michel Simon rue Saint Denis
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$536
Dustin Hoffman 2
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$536
Dustin Hoffman 1
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$536
Hoof, Equus Glamorous
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 68.6 x 66 x 0.5 cm Photography - 27 x 26 x 0.2 inch
$1,800
Kuwait modern old city
Ali Buhamad
Photography - 50 x 40 x 5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 2 inch
$1,192