Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Nu (série, croquis)
Kitty Sabatier
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$622
Bettie Page Clutching Robe
Bunny Yeager
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Marilyn Monroe. Baby Nude
Bert Stern
Photography - 31 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 12.2 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$5,545
Marilyn Monroe 1962. New baby in silver
Bert Stern
Photography - 33 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,545
Les Acrobates IV
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates VII
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 69.9 x 90.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 35.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Leda and The Swan, Paris
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
$2,800
Les Acrobates VI
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 69.9 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 27.5 inch
$3,500
F0480 - The antidepressant
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$2,037
Théâtre des Masques - Theater of the masks
Marino Marini
Print - 51.5 x 37.5 x 0.1 cm Print - 20.3 x 14.8 x 0 inch
$2,263
L'esclave mourant de Michel-Ange
Yazid Oulab
Painting - 207 x 154.3 cm Painting - 81.5 x 60.7 inch
$22,633
Inside
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,669
Euphoria
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 61 x 92 x 0.1 cm Photography - 24 x 36.2 x 0 inch
$1,669
Brigitte Bardot. Saint Tropez
Bert Stern
Photography - 33 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$4,413
No55 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 72 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 28.3 x 0 inch
$1,669
L'amie
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,669
No83 Spirit Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 67 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 26.4 x 0 inch
$1,669
Jeune nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 91 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.8 x 35.8 x 0 inch
$1,669
Light Slide
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,669
Allure
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,669
Angelique 3
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,669
Eruptio
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,669
No58 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 72 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography - 28.3 x 35.8 x 0 inch
$1,669
Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Harper's Bazaar
Philippe Robert
Photography - 100 x 75 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 inch
$9,053
Marilyn Monroe (1962) Orgasm
Bert Stern
Photography - 33 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,545
Homme nu sur la plage III
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,132
Homme nu sur la plage II
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,132
Beauté de l'île
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,132
Marilyn Red Classic Charcoal Roses
Bert Stern
Photography - 48 x 33 cm Photography - 18.9 x 13 inch
$5,545
Marilyn Black silver wink roses
Bert Stern
Photography - 43 x 31 cm Photography - 16.9 x 12.2 inch
$5,545
Corps d'eau I
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,132
Seeds IV, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Les Acrobates I
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates II
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates III
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates V
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
HB1424 – Collection purity
Idan Wizen
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$2,037
H0404 - The insurgent
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,358
F0496 - The doll
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,037
Skindo travesti
Pierre Molinier
Photography - 13 x 9 x 1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 3.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,697
Fenêtre sur elle
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$894
Jeune Nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 70 x 70 x 2.5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1 inch
$2,014
La plage II
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,132
Fabrice Emaer et les bodybuilders
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,075
Danse des lasers
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,075
Façon Marilyn
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,075
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!