Black and white
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Caballero. From The series Horse and Dancer
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Cerro de Hombres
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Tres. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Uno. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas Tres. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas Dos. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Cuatro. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Dos. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Tres. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Dos. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Centre Line. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Principio. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 4
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 3
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 2
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio.
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 4
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 3
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 2
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 1
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Black and white on skate
Themanfromthefuture Urano
Painting - 105 x 33 x 0.1 cm Painting - 41.3 x 13 x 0 inch
$437
Kate Moss Venice Beach III
Christoph Martin Schmid
Photography - 44 x 33 cm Photography - 17.3 x 13 inch
$897
A memory of an unfullfilled love
Alex Manchev
Print - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$325
Would you swim with me? XVI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$213
No40 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$5,886
Angel IX
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$636
Nikita III
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$636
Série Backstage - F0597 – The alien
Idan Wizen
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$168
Photographie "Arche"
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$774
Matthew Barney rehearsing Drawing Restraint 7, NYC. Diptych
Michael James O'Brien
Photography - 43.2 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Dancing class
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 67 x 100 x 3 cm Photography - 26.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$3,363
Unnatural Causes XXXI
Jeff Robb
Photography - 75 x 75 x 2 cm Photography - 29.5 x 29.5 x 0.8 inch
$10,090
Georgianna
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$4,709
Georgianna
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$4,709
Sisyphe (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
De la Série 'Blanc et Noir'
Carlos Antonio Sablon Perez
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$6,727
Détente en famille
Jean-Louis Toutain
Sculpture - 30 x 68 x 38 cm Sculpture - 11.8 x 26.8 x 15 inch
$20,180
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!