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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Black and white

El Barbudo

El Principe

Groupe

Autoroute

Forêt

Nature morte II

Nature morte I

Éolienne

Garage

Forêt

Neige

En route VIII

En route VII

Las Memorias

Mod

Mod

Fellaz on Frenchmen

Havana café

A Moment with Mario

Estrats 1

Corazon y alma

Nature morte

Branche

Neige 2

The southern gentleman

Bayou dreaming

Tea time

Graciela

Spring amidst the beech

La dama de la plaza

La celebracion

Sands of the Himalaya

Waiting for Brasil

El campesino

Chancay

Agrès

Agrès

Tuareg vision of intensity

Untitled

Untitled

5th Avenue give and take

Dent #000

Ali I

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled #29

Untitled #22

Untitled #4

Untitled #3

Untitled #1

Ideas en conflicto

Waiting for the rain in Wamba

Afar woman of Assaita

L'ours

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Untitled

Himba Child II

Litiriyan

Otjitando

At the edge of the Jade Sea