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

Marilyn Takes It To The Streets

D'Arens Cliff in Fog, Algarve

Mer de Glace

Eartha Kitt On Stage

Zen

Looking through the giraffe

Herd of Elephants

Orchid

Sans titre

Death Valley, États-Unis

Agnès Varda - Les plages d'Agnès

Agnès Varda - Les plages d'Agnès

Nous sommes tous des enfants

Amélie Nothomb

Broadway-Simplon

Cabinet of Souls (Armoire à Âmes)

Far

Duke Ellington

Sœur pleurant son frère

Nous sommes tous des enfants

Nous sommes tous des enfants

Nous sommes tous des enfants

Qutab Minar

Tender

She-Devil and the Black Hole Orchestra

Units - Full Speed

Not

Scepter

Node

Muhammad Ali , Chicago

Sur les Quais

Shorelines #1

De Myrha à Babylone - Le Panama

De Myrha à Babylone - Les Primeurs du Château

No57 SPIRIT Series

No44 SPIRIT Series

Avant

No title (No62)

Inside

No Title (No51)

No title (No47)

No title (No46)

Gone with the wind

Keep me calm 1

Give a second chance

La que vuela

Water clock

Sunny line

Yanira I

Myriam pour New look - 10

Myriam pour New look - 7

Myriam pour New look - 5

Myriam pour New look - 4

Myriam pour New look - 3

Myriam pour New look - 2

Myriam pour New look - 1

Natacha

Figure

Salvarore (L)

Mr Chino - Prayers (L)

Baltic_Ice_II_Helsinki_012

Mémoire de JingDeZhen Village 4

Tracks VI

Tracks V

Hub

My Kid Just Ruined My Chillida