Black and white
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Glaciation magique
Jean-Marc Stoeffler
Photography - 37 x 47 x 1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 18.5 x 0.4 inch
€250
Love is a rock
Benoit Ruff
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
€350
La série : Orogenèse - Anonymous (Gibraltar 01006)
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
€10,000
La série : Orogenèse - Atget
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
€10,000
La série : Orogenèse - Man Ray / Duchamp
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
€10,000
Jenny Owens Birds Series
Jenny Owens
Photography - 15 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 5.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€400
Paris, Travestie dans les rues du Marais
Olivia Bonnamour
Photography - 30 x 45 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 inch
€450
Paris, Jeune couple sur le Pont Neuf
Olivia Bonnamour
Photography - 30 x 45 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 inch
€450
Paris, 9e arrondissement 2022
Olivia Bonnamour
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
€450
Paris, Place de la Bourse
Olivia Bonnamour
Photography - 30 x 45 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 inch
€450
Fractal Los Angeles
Alex Silver
Photography - 60.96 x 91.44 x 2 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.8 inch
€2,800
Bar Le Cactus (rue des Archives)
Amadou Gaye
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€400
Rue Cherche Midi 6ème
Amadou Gaye
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€400
Tenue Correcte Exigée
Amadou Gaye
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€400
Eiffel Breakdance
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€199
Corail Island
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€390
Still life (lamp)
Larry Snider
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€300
Tibetan Monastery
Larry Snider
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€400
Horizon
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 30 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 16.5 x 0 inch
€320
Electric Cowboy
Pauline Corto
Photography - 57 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 22.4 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€480
Ki no kioku, Memory of Tree, Ibuta-ji, Matsusaka city, Mie prefecture, 2023-11, 13
Teddy Peix
Photography - 27 x 20 x 0.01 cm Photography - 10.6 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€390
Untitled (bird and beak) (2)
Mikael Siirilä
Photography - 22 x 15 cm Photography - 8.7 x 5.9 inch
€320
Forest Ruin (with horse and deer)
Diana Thorneycroft
Photography - 73.7 x 111.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 29 x 44 x 0.1 inch
€3,000
Miles Davis - Courbé
Hervé Pezzini
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
€250
Shoreline Walk
Paul J Bucknall
Photography - 40.6 x 30.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 12 x 0.1 inch
€419
Rio no color #3 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Joaquim Nabuco
Photography - 150 x 120 cm Photography - 59.1 x 47.2 inch
€5,600
Errances Silencieuses 02 - Sancy (Auvergne)
Teddy Peix
Photography - 16 x 40 x 0.04 cm Photography - 6.3 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€450
Errances Silencieuses 03 - Sancy (Auvergne)
Teddy Peix
Photography - 16 x 40 x 0.04 cm Photography - 6.3 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€450
Errances Silencieuses 01, Le lac d’en Haut, la Godivelle. (Auvergne)
Teddy Peix
Photography - 16 x 40 x 0.04 cm Photography - 6.3 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€450
Du bout du monde 03 - Les Écrins (Alpes)
Teddy Peix
Photography - 22 x 22 x 0.1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0 inch
€270
Du bout du monde 02 - Les Écrins (Alpes)
Teddy Peix
Photography - 22 x 22 x 0.04 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0 inch
€270
Délit de Fuite - 03
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€2,300
Délit de Fuite - 02
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€2,300
Délit de Fuite - 01
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€2,300
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!