Black and white
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San Sebastian
Norman Reedus
Photography - 40.64 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.8 inch
£2,054
Decks - In The Mix
Nick Veasey
Photography - 42 x 93.3 x 2 cm Photography - 16.5 x 36.7 x 0.8 inch
£17,596
Western - Duel
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 51.1 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 20.1 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
£849
Cheval au galop
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
£849
Intereses Contrapuestos
Renato Manzoni
Print - 110 x 55 x 1 cm Print - 43.3 x 21.7 x 0.4 inch
£5,359
Free Spirit nº2
Pierre Cherix
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
£402
George Burns Visiting Gracie
Harry Benson
Photography - 68.6 x 78.7 x 5.1 cm Photography - 27 x 31 x 2 inch
£3,981
Out of Shadows - New York City
Joseph Cela
Photography - 60.96 x 76.2 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.4 inch
£2,233
Silhouette with hat
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
£4,734
Silhouette VIII
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
£4,734
Silhouette VI
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
£4,734
Silhouette III
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
£4,734
Silhouette II
Deana Nastic
Photography - 152 x 114 x 1 cm Photography - 59.8 x 44.9 x 0.4 inch
£7,146
The Game
Christophe Battifero
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
£375
Série 'graphiques' Ma terre, mes racines - solitaire
Michèle Magnien (Mileg)
Painting - 30 x 30 x 3.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.4 inch
£223
Série 'graphiques' Ma terre, mes racines - solidaires
Michèle Magnien (Mileg)
Painting - 30 x 30 x 3.5 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.4 inch
£223
Série: Natura facit saltus - raz de marée
Edgar Lissel
Photography - 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£7,146
Série: Natura facit saltus - gouttes de marée
Edgar Lissel
Photography - 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£7,146
Wellenelement Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
£13,398
Lichtreflex - Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 36 x 29 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11.4 inch
£10,719
Lichtreflex - Translation / Rotation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 28 x 38 cm Photography - 11 x 15 inch
£10,719
Wellenelement multiple Rotation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
£13,398
Wellenelement Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
£13,398
Teatro
Robbie Cornelissen
Fine Art Drawings - 125 x 125 cm Fine Art Drawings - 49.2 x 49.2 inch
£5,583
Bar Le Cactus (rue des Archives)
Amadou Gaye
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£357
Untitled X, Untitled XXXIX, and Untitled XXIX
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled I, Untitled II, and Untitled XI
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled XIX, XXI, and XX
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled XII, XXXVII, and Untitled XXVI, Triptych
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Set II
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 299.7 x 199.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 118 x 78.7 x 0.1 inch
£17,416
Set I
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 299.7 x 199.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 118 x 78.7 x 0.1 inch
£17,416
Untitled X, Untitled XXIX, and Untitled XXXIX
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled I, Untitled XI, and Untitled II, Hands
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled XXXVIII, XXXIX and Untitled XXXII, Triptych
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.1 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled XII, XXXVII, and Untitled XXVI. Triptych. From the series Chiromorphose
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39.3 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
Untitled XXX, XXXI, and XXXIII. From the series Chiromorphose
Nico Baixas / Gos-com-fuig
Photography - 149.9 x 99.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 59 x 39.3 x 0.1 inch
£4,354
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!