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

Celebrating Life - #21

Celebrating Life - #19

Celebrating Life - #18

Celebrating Life - #13

Celebrating Life - #10

Elizabeth Olsen, Jennifer Lopez, Toni Garnn, Elizabeth Banks.

Celebrating Life - #8

Celebrating Life - #7

Diane K, Pharrell B&W, Toni Garnn II. Photo intervened by the artists.

Elizabeth Olsen and Elizabeth Banks, Diptych Intervened by the artists.

Celebrating Life - #3

Jamie Dornan and David Gandy, Diptych. Intervened by the artists

Toni Garnn and Jennifer Lopez, Diptych. Intervened by the artists

Jamie Dornan and Antonio Banderas, Diptych. Intervened by the artists.

Couple - série scène de vie figurative

Room with a view En

Brooklyn Bridge - L

Vers nulle part

Peché originel

Après l'Orage

Point de vue / Megève hameau de Vauvray Winter

L'Atelier

Solitude

Zouin My Maroc #10

Zouin My Maroc #9

Zouin My Maroc #8

Hug

Traveling Light,

Mur 006

Café de Fleur

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Élégance

Old man with new hat

Small talks II

Birds

Asfaloth

La fille du roi de Birmanie réfugiée au Siam

Rotondità, 1963 (Rondeurs)

Poesia Invernale, Fontana di Trevi, 1956

Uomini dell’ombra, 1962 (les hommes de l’ombre)

Portrait #8

Séduction #4

Sur ses Lèvres...

Ballerina III

Dent N°31

Burgundy 7

Paris la Nuit

Le Bateau Lavoir

Le Jour se Lève

Hôtel du Nord

Après la Pluie

Le Bistrot du Coin

L'Envol

Les Grandes Ombres

Sur la Butte

Ombre Portée

Porte des Lilas

Untitled 1

Alter Ego, Attitude Negative

C'est ici que j'ai perdu mes contours

Architectural Abstract 7

Paul McCartney NYC

Tina Turner, 1970, NYC

Shopping on 57th and 6th

Fifth Avenue Admiral

Averse