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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George Michael
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
George Michael
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
The Who Pete Townshend
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Rolling Stones
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards Rolling Stones
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
New Barbarians - Keith Richards & Ronnie Woods
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Bruce Springsteen
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
The Who Pete Townshend
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Angus Young AC/DC
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Angus Young AC/DC
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Siouxsie Sioux
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Bob, Mick and Pete
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
George Michael
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
George Michael
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Elton John, Marc Bolan & RIngo Starr
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
The Who Pete Townshend
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Rolling Stones
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Eric Clapton
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Tom Waits on Portobello Road
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Stevie Wonder
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards Rolling Stones
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Leonard Cohen
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Bruce Springsteen
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 59 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 23.2 x 0 inch
$2,086
New Barbarians – Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
The Who Pete Townshend
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
David Bowie
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 58 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 22.8 x 0 inch
$2,086
Angus Young AC/DC
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
Michael Putland
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,086
Siouxsie Sioux
Michael Putland
Photography - 51 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$2,086
Charles X - La coopérative de Mai - Clermont-Ferrand 2016 - Les Nuits Zébrées de Nova
Lucas Perrigot
Photography - 59.4 x 84.1 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 33.1 x 0 inch
$680
The pigeon man
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$656
Tina Turner, Honka Monka Club, NYC (Diamond Dust)
Bob Gruen
Print - 62.9 x 41.3 x 5.1 cm Print - 24.75 x 16.25 x 2 inch
$4,400
Debbie Harry, Max's Kansas City, NYC 1976 (Diamond Dust)
Bob Gruen
Print - 76.2 x 55.9 x 5.1 cm Print - 30 x 22 x 2 inch
$4,400
Marilyn Relaxes in A Hotel Room
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 76 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.9 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$1,061
La sorella maggiore, dans un village Méo, Thaïlande 1959
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 110 x 70 x 0.5 cm Photography - 43.3 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
$2,730
Ballerina IV
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$232
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
$1,907
Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil (M)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 40.1 x 50 cm Photography - 15.8 x 19.7 inch
$10,000
Yamal Peninsula, Siberia, Russia (S)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 30 x 40.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.8 inch
$9,500
Rajasthan, India (S)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 30 x 40.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.8 inch
$9,500
Wolverine Lake, Canada (M)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 40.1 x 50 cm Photography - 15.8 x 19.7 inch
$10,000
Gold Mine of Serra Pelada (M)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 2.5 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 1 inch
$11,000
Bighorn Creek, Canada (M)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 40.1 x 50 x 2.5 cm Photography - 15.8 x 19.7 x 1 inch
$11,000
Prayer in the Sand Dunes, Algeria (S) (3)
Sebastião Salgado
Photography - 59.9 x 89.9 x 2.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 1 inch
$22,000
Tina Turner, NYC 1970
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Tom Waits, NYC 1985
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
Who, Tina Turner, Elton John, Ann-Margret, NYC 1975
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Yoko Ono and John Lennon wearing a floppy hat, Central Park West, NYC 1973
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500