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
Light as a stone
Chiara Mazzocchi
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
£441
Portrait de sculpteurs du Musée des Sables
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
Portrait MOON SHIN
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
MOON SHIN Portrait et Sculpture
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
MOON SHIN Portrait au chien
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
MOON SHIN Portait dans sculpture blanche
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
Moon Shin, Portrait à la cigarette
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
£2,581
Moon Shin totem Lia, Musée des Sables
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 40 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
£3,471
Grossert 3 - Musée des Sables Barcarés
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£2,581 £2,323
The way it was
Richard Kelley
Photography - 50 x 75 x 4 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 1.6 inch
£490
Marie Agnes Gillot - Opera National de Paris
Philippe Robert
Photography - 87 x 120 x 2 cm Photography - 34.3 x 47.2 x 0.8 inch
£11,125
NEW YORK - Fashion show
OverSide
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
£312
Vertigo - Photographie argentique - Paris
Jules Gorce
Photography - 20 x 30 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 inch
£623
Egg Study 5, Silver Gelatin Print
Shine Huang
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.1 inch
£1,967
Egg Study 4 , Silver Gelatin Print
Shine Huang
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.1 inch
£1,967
Global warming 1.5
Franck Guedj
Photography - 53 x 150 x 1 cm Photography - 20.9 x 59.1 x 0.4 inch
£3,471
Ancient Page
Shine Huang
Photography - 81.3 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 40 x 0.1 inch
£2,869
Sample space urban 2.2
Franck Guedj
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
£2,581
Impulse 1.0
Franck Guedj
Photography - 100 x 150 x 10 cm Photography - 39.4 x 59.1 x 3.9 inch
£3,471
Mouvement 3.3
Franck Guedj
Photography - 120 x 80 x 10 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 3.9 inch
£3,471
Accumulation Orange (013)
Ditno 83
Painting - 130 x 97 x 3 cm Painting - 51.2 x 38.2 x 1.2 inch
£2,314
White Noise
Chien Hua Huang
Photography - 75 x 75 x 4 cm Photography - 29.5 x 29.5 x 1.6 inch
£2,990
PETITE NISHIKIGOI ELEGANCE IN METAL BLACK : MIZU NO KASAI WHISPERS
Hiro Ando
Sculpture - 40 x 47 x 63 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 18.5 x 24.8 inch
£12,015
URBANCAT MAGNIFICO : BLACK METROPOLIS MUSE
Hiro Ando
Sculpture - 150 x 90 x 60 cm Sculpture - 59.1 x 35.4 x 23.6 inch
£26,700
COMMANDING WARRIORCAT : BLACK ETERNAL VIGIL
Hiro Ando
Sculpture - 100 x 150 x 70 cm Sculpture - 39.4 x 59.1 x 27.6 inch
£18,690
Série: Se faire passer pour Mao
Nathalie Daoust
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
£2,225
A PANDASAN’S LUSTROUS CHARM : ARGENTUM RADIANCE
Hiro Ando
Sculpture - 100 x 90 x 90 cm Sculpture - 39.4 x 35.4 x 35.4 inch
£32,040
Les pieds dans l'eau
Denis Morel
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
£392
Black Beauty III
Léa Bon
Photography - 72.4 x 48 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.5 x 18.9 x 0.1 inch
£4,919
Bruno Mars, Portrait intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 187.9 x 132 x 3 cm Photography - 74 x 52 x 1.2 inch
£6,148
Micheal Jordan - Portrait
OverSide
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
£312
1952 Raymond DUNCAN Galerie Akademia
Raymond Duncan
Photography - 18 x 13 cm Photography - 7.1 x 5.1 inch
£2,581
1952 Raymond DUNCAN dans sa galerie Akademia
Raymond Duncan
Photography - 18 x 13 cm Photography - 7.1 x 5.1 inch
£2,626
The Broken Chain
Juan Pablo Castro
Photography - 61 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.1 inch
£2,459
Don't Tell Mamma #4
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 32 x 0.1 inch
£4,099
Invacuo Project #33
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #29
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #26
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #23
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #22
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 180.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 71 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #21
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Invacuo Project #19
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
£4,017
Le Marais de Carélie, Finlande
Mikaël Lafontan
Photography - 120 x 150 cm Photography - 47.2 x 59.1 inch
£3,961
Nuances tribal
Jonathan Pradillon
Painting - 29 x 29 x 3.5 cm Painting - 11.4 x 11.4 x 1.4 inch
£116
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!