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No31 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
£2,328
No62 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
£2,328
No22 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
£2,328
WetWay
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
£2,328
Fesse homme
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 36 x 53 x 1 cm Photography - 14.2 x 20.9 x 0.4 inch
£622
Femme allongée
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 24 x 36 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.4 inch
£622
Homme sous moustiquaire
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 43 x 28 x 1 cm Photography - 16.9 x 11 x 0.4 inch
£622
Danza de fortuna. From the series, Danza de fortuna
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Sugoi fairy Yoshii fairy
Akiza
Painting - 120 x 115 x 10 cm Painting - 47.2 x 45.3 x 3.9 inch
£3,022
Il balcone vista al mare
Daiane Soares
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
£1,600
Sans titre (Un jour, une photo)
Aline Part
Photography - 67 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
£444
Would you swim with me?
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 30 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£169
Jambes Blanches
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,022
Secret d'alcove
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£1,022
Would you swim with me? XVI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
£169
Les Acrobates IV
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,903
Pouvoir et soumission
Joël Gros
Photography - 50 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£533
En La Florida (Identity Promises Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
£444
Silencio de nieve (Identity Testimonies series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
£444
Over the Wall 3
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
£578
Over the Wall 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
£578
Around the corner
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
£578
Motel Bathroom 2
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£578
Motel Bathroom 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
£578
Gone with the Wind
Lesya Rozova
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£600
Les Acrobates I
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,903
Les Acrobates II
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,903
Les Acrobates III
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,903
Les Acrobates V
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,903
Les Acrobates VI
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 69.9 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 27.5 inch
£2,903
Udo could have been a woman like the others
Udo Roosen
Photography - 60 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£1,066
The Ant Anthony Fawcett
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
£2,400
Stonehenge Model
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
£2,400
La mirada d’Apol·lo
Martí Sala
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
£622
Black and white on skate
Themanfromthefuture Urano
Painting - 105 x 33 x 0.1 cm Painting - 41.3 x 13 x 0 inch
£347
Irida XIII
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
£480
Roarie XXVI
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
£480
Man against Wall, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Man against Wall, One
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Infinity Man, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Men & Palm Tree
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Palm Climb, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Caballero, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Folding man Two: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Folding man One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Man Curve Four: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Man Curve One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Man Back One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Untitled 2: from the Blanco Series. Archival Pigment print, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Untitled, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
Hombre en red
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
£1,843
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!