Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Lx008. Lisbonne Portugal
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 30 x 48 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 18.9 x 0.1 inch
£534
No 81 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 84 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 33.1 x 0 inch
£2,332
Regard Blanc -Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
£134
1915 Nuages et tempête Tempest and clouds
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
£1,736
Marilyn Relaxes in Her Hotel Room
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
£200
Evan Dando Lemonheads
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 51 x 40 cm Photography - 20.1 x 15.7 inch
£1,575
Lost and Found
Théo Gosselin
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,068
Trimmed in Grace
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
£1,558
OMO: Untitled 15
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 2
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,558
OMO: Untitled 32
Drew Doggett
Photography - 43.2 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 37
Drew Doggett
Photography - 43.2 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 44
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 20 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 9
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Warrior Embellished
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
There is a hand that protects me
On Hansen
Photography - 69 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.2 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
£1,230
A rock cannot burnt to ashes
On Hansen
Photography - 69 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.2 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
£1,230
Big wheel Osaka
Cécile Baldewyns
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
£757
The devil is here #1
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Painting - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
£169
Terra Incognita - Moonscape
Guillaume Pépy
Photography - 70 x 105 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 inch
£1,736
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
£445
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
£445
Restaurateur de porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
£534
Atelier de porcelaine II
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
£534
Atelier de porcelaine I
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£534
Fours traditionnel à bois pour le porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£445
Youthful Gaze
Drew Doggett
Photography - 70.5 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.75 x 48 x 0.1 inch
£3,074
Striped Ensemble
Drew Doggett
Photography - 72.4 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.5 x 36 x 0.1 inch
£2,049
Gamemaker
Drew Doggett
Photography - 66.7 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 26.25 x 36 x 0.1 inch
£2,049
True Bearing
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Underwater Rhythm
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 19
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
OMO: Untitled 20
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Velsheda In Pursuit
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Windy Solitude
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Young at Heart
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Summer Dream
Drew Doggett
Photography - 40.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Steadfast
Drew Doggett
Photography - 47.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Katmai's Veil
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
In Position
Drew Doggett
Photography - 32.4 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
Force of Nature
Drew Doggett
Photography - 33 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 13 x 27 x 0.1 inch
£1,353
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!