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Magnetic Radiation 14 (Large)
Seb Janiak
Photography - 160 x 160 cm Photography - 63 x 63 inch
$8,009
SJWMN//JP#09 (Still just writing my name // Japan)
Patrick Hartl
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,819
Personnage au discours fumeux
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 19 x 24 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.5 x 9.4 inch
$1,421
Desvelando Gaudí 02
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$682
Bamboo Plant #2
Griselda Duch
Photography - 32 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$788
Bamboo Plant #1
Griselda Duch
Photography - 32 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$788
Cinematography inspired session #14
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$216
Cinematography inspired session #13
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$216
Cinematography inspired session #12
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$216
Cinematography inspired session #11
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$216
Cinematography inspired session #10
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$216
Cinematography inspired session #5
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$216
Ballerina III
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$222
Sans Titre (TAC161618)
Jérôme Garrido
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$966
On a marché sur la dune
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 45 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$614
Collection Ville Autrement / Venise Autrement / China-Venezia
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Pise autrement / Baptistère
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / New York Autrement / American Dream
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Pise Autrement / Océano
Franck Doat
Photography - 25 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Nice Ville /
Franck Doat
Photography - 25 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Nice Autrement / Towards The Light
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Nice autrement / Negresco Antic
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Nice Autrement / Divin
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$625
Collection Ville Autrement / Nice Autrement / Blue Chairs
Franck Doat
Photography - 25 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$625
L'envolée des rêves
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$330
Would You Swim with Me? VI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$216
Losing track of time
Maria Esmar
Painting - 120 x 120 x 4 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.6 inch
$3,297
Jean Shrimpton In Mary Quant
John French
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 cm Photography - 60 x 40 inch
$1,461
L'abreuvoir d'Eiffel
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$136 $123
Balade d'amoureux
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$114
Memento Mori aka ad Verbum v.11.13
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 167.98 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 66.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,274
Memento Mori aka ad Verbum v.5.21
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 168 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 66.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,274
S… like Solveig or a New Grate v.7.13
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 175 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 68.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,274
L'ombre des âges
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$182
Si ploaia miroase bine
Kuffjca Cozma
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.8 inch
$1,364
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,137
Paris se change
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$182 $164
Sombra, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
Reyes, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
Caracol, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
Dama. Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
Pregonera, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
La Catalina. De la serie Como antes
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,705
Serie Callejeros musicales 2
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,046
Delta Zulu Paris
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
$546
L'aube de la première descente
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$216
Silent Soul (01)
Richard Laillier
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 10 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 3.9 x 0.4 inch
$682
Encre #5
Timothy Archer
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$966
Langage des mains 2
Jean-Claude Mathier
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,141
Luna Toscana
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$443
Dans le Metro
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,046
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!