Black and white
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The Mimic
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 30.5 x 39.6 x 0.5 cm Photography - 12 x 15.6 x 0.2 inch
£996
Petit Prince
Jean François Humbert
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.15 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
£3,086
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
£2,148
Michael Lonsdale
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 25 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 15 x 0.4 inch
£2,506
Storm over the Altiplano
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 75 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 inch
£950
Reflecting landscape 11
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£1,253
End Of Empire, Kantharos
Cleon Peterson
Print - 30.5 x 40.5 x 0.1 cm Print - 12 x 15.9 x 0 inch
£447
Ray of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,369
Cloned Griffon Bruxellois With Pet Bottle
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 40 x 40 x 18 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 15.7 x 7.1 inch
£1,253
Dix petits moines - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
£394
Tonsure, la cicatrice - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£394
Tonsure, de dos
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£394
Balade en forêt
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£394
Réfectoire vide
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 13 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 13.8 x 0 inch
£394
Hausa and Fula cultures collide
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,250
Premier Contact
Christelle Yambayisa
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
£2,506
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 22 x 57 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 22.4 x 0.4 inch
£2,506
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
£2,148
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
£2,148
Sans titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 30 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
£2,327
Symphony of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,369
Textures of Silence
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,576
Michel Simon rue Saint Denis
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£224
Silver
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
£1,825
Savant N.2 - Reflects & Transparencies Series
Anna Levesh
Photography - 78.5 x 50 cm Photography - 30.9 x 19.7 inch
£707
Marilyn in Vogue (1962)
Bert Stern
Photography - 25 x 21 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
£1,423
Inde005. Agra. Taj Mahal. Inde.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
£403
Nailed it Series No.83
Sumit Mehndiratta
Sculpture - 64 x 64 x 4 cm Sculpture - 25.2 x 25.2 x 1.6 inch
£761
El Revolucionario
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
£795
The Coen Brothers (2001)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 61 x 51 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 inch
£1,879
Hombre de la Luna
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
£533
Urban structure 2
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 120 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
£2,103
Contemplation
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.02 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
£1,074
Electric Cowboy
Pauline Corto
Photography - 57 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 22.4 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
£430
Coluche - Iconic portraits
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
£1,253
Horror Vacui II, Black Doodle
Marie Julou (Tina McCallan)
Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
£895
May the sky be my testimony
Ana Zegheanu
Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.02 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
£143
Denpasar International Airport
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
£224
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£224
Quinta de Regaleira Cintra
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
£224
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!