Black and white
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Djenné, Mali
Jean-Christophe Béchet
Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$772
La passerelle du Croaë
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 26 x 45 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.2 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,074
Zone blanche (PM11)
Palmi Marzaroli
Painting - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$1,510
California IV
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 40 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,118
Un air d exotisme : Mahe Seychelles
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
$2,751
Vision 11
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$224
Vision 10
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$224
Vision 9
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$168
Mezzogiorno al Pantheon, 1 & 2, Rome
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 57 x 67 x 2 cm Photography - 22.4 x 26.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,595
Marilyn in Vogue (1962)
Bert Stern
Photography - 48 x 33 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 13 x 0.4 inch
$2,785
Music Notes (Party At The Moontower)
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Print - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$280
Le tre Vespe, 1962 - Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 70 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
$2,561
Portrait of Francis Picabia
Man Ray
Photography - 27 x 21 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$35,791
N°50-22 11 (NG63)
Nicolas Galtier
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,007
Talisman in Red
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 76.2 x 53.3 x 0.5 cm Photography - 30 x 21 x 0.2 inch
$2,500
Kinetic
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 75.2 x 114.3 x 0.5 cm Photography - 29.6 x 45 x 0.2 inch
$3,000
Momentum
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 91.9 x 106.7 x 0.5 cm Photography - 36.2 x 42 x 0.2 inch
$3,000
Light Weaver
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 91.7 x 99.1 x 0.5 cm Photography - 36.1 x 39 x 0.2 inch
$3,000
Before the mess
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$884
Reflecting landscape 12
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 10
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 09
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 08
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 07
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 06
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 05
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 04
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 03
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 02
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Reflecting landscape 01
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,566
Floating memories 07
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Floating memories 06
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Floating memories 05
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Floating memories 04
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Floating memories 02
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Floating memories 01
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$895
Lost Village_11
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 100 x 70 x 3.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 27.6 x 1.4 inch
$1,342
Spirit of Forest 20372
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,790
Spirit of Forest 9999
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,790
Spirit of Forest 2020
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,790
Spirit of Forest 1932
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,790
Spirit of Forest 1263
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,790
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!