Black and white
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Himba Beauty
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
£1,244
Bashung / Rio Grande
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
£1,244
À côté de l'arbre
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 40 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
£1,022
BB King On Stage - Guitar Starlight, LA Forum
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
£1,244
Défilé Mugler - Zénith 84
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£1,333
Waiting for the rain in Wamba
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,550
At the heart of Huile
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£795
Lion of the Kalahari
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£950
Fula Nomad at Golondi
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£950
Fulani Bapteme Ceremony
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£950
Rendille Mother and Child
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£795
Lady of the Arbore
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£795
Disruption II. Wall sculpture intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 36 x 28 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11 x 0.1 inch
£1,244
Too deep, too closely
Saverio Filioli Uranio
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.4 inch
£427
At the edge of the Jade Sea
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£950
The Air We Breathe
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 10 x 15 cm Photography - 3.9 x 5.9 inch
£231
Cathédrale, jeu de lignes
Marie-Odile Wagner
Painting - 53 x 15 x 2 cm Painting - 20.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inch
£196
Afar woman of Assaita
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,222
Lits double
Christian Lefevre
Photography - 75 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
£818 £736
Soul - Kate Hudson, Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 45.7 x 35.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 14 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Luna de Portugal, de la série Recetario
Carlos Pericás
Photography - 25 x 20 cm Photography - 9.8 x 7.9 inch
£160
1971 Féraud Black Sculpture Metal
Albert Féraud
Photography - 35 x 45 cm Photography - 13.8 x 17.7 inch
£1,689
Dans la machine
Muriel Deumie
Photography - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£489
Absorbés par le temps - 5
Clara Cena
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
£515
Lagerfeld above Logo, Fall/Winter 2006, Le Grand Palais Paris
Simon Procter
Photography - 240 x 178 x 5 cm Photography - 94.5 x 70.1 x 2 inch
£19,552
Il peso degli anni, 1962 (Le poids de l’âge)
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
£1,466
L'escalier. 6,09 m crue de la Seine
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.04 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
£1,333
Rush Black and White
Robert Knight
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
£788
Miles Davis - Jazz Hot
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
£1,244
César Mercedes & Tank
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
£1,244
On the moon 13 - série portraits de femmes
Stéphane Vereecken
Photography - 50 x 50 x 2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
£1,022
Your Table Awaits (Marilyn Monroe)
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 61 x 51 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 inch
£702
De Gaulle en route pour le monument aux morts d'Algérie manque la République
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
£622
Paul Bocuse et sa serviette, Colonges
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.3 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.1 inch
£578
Un homme marche avec des chaussures toutes neuves
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 50 x 33.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 13.2 x 0.1 inch
£711
De Gaulle en visite aux fusillés du Mont Valérien.
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 55 x 33.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 21.7 x 13.2 x 0.1 inch
£889
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!