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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
$1,866
Rush Black and White
Robert Knight
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$950
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
$1,301
N48°52'17.23 E02°51'51.75
L'Atlas
Painting - 150 x 200 x 3 cm Painting - 59.1 x 78.7 x 1.2 inch
$14,136
Keith the New Barbarians
John Rowlands
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,350
Mick Jagger Rolling Stones Tour 1972
John Rowlands
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,350
Mick Jagger Rolling Stones Tour 1972
John Rowlands
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 2 inch
$1,600
Leonard Cohen
John Rowlands
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,350
Your Table Awaits (Marilyn Monroe)
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 61 x 51 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 inch
$893
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
$792
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
$735
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
$905
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
$1,131
Led Zeppelin NYC 1973
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$6,200
Luna de Portugal, de la série Recetario
Carlos Pericás
Photography - 25 x 20 cm Photography - 9.8 x 7.9 inch
$204
Cheval fantôme - série animaux
Henry Ausloos
Photography - 70 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$1,979
Submerged Civilization III
Shengqi Tang
Photography - 50 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,357
Submerged Civilization II
Shengqi Tang
Photography - 50 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,357
Submerged Civilization I
Shengqi Tang
Photography - 50 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,357
The reduction in self-awareness
Shulan Wang
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,357
Eternal sleeping
Shulan Wang
Photography - 30 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,583
Atelier de porcelaine III
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 9 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 3.5 x 0.8 inch
$452
Leto's Daughter. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 36 x 28 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11 x 0.1 inch
$1,800
Looking at Arcadia. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 36 x 28 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11 x 0.1 inch
$1,800
Mujer de Viñales
James Sparshatt
Photography - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,244
Lisa and her little lamb
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 55 x 46 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.7 x 18.1 inch
$1,696
Photo 081023.1655
Gottfried Jäger
Photography - 150 x 110 x 3 cm Photography - 59.1 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
$10,178
The Forest
Tellas
Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 64 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 25.2 x 0.2 inch
$1,753
Cliff Richard – Signing Autographs, on Tour
David Steen
Photography - 46 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$1,561
Miles Davis, NYC, 1970 III
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Led Zeppelin, 1973
James Fortune
Photography - 45.7 x 61 x 0.1 cm Photography - 18 x 24 x 0.05 inch
$1,950
Skarsgård. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Bruno Mars, Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Kaaling, Bruno Mars Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Muse. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Paris. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Bella Hadid, Neon. Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Fluid Bella Hadid, Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Weifang Sun, Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Pharell Williams Portrait. Nothing Stays Still, Untitle I. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Abstract Clouds n°305
Harry James Moody
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 inch
$3,200
Abstract Clouds n°306
Harry James Moody
Painting - 76.2 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 30 x 30 x 2 inch
$3,200
Storm Series Horizontal 82
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 92 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 36.2 inch
$2,846
Maelstrom Series 67
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 91.5 x 91.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 36 x 36 inch
$3,243
La série : Orogenèse - Anonymous (Gibraltar 00951)
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
$11,309
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!