Black and white
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Taureau
Jérémy Le Mouël (Mooven’s)
Painting - 50 x 65 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 25.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,583
Jeux d’échecs
Jérémy Le Mouël (Mooven’s)
Painting - 50 x 65 x 4 cm Painting - 19.7 x 25.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,809
Unambidextrous (Black & Metallic Grey)
Niels Meulman (Shoe)
Print - 111 x 77 cm Print - 43.7 x 30.3 inch
$675
Free Play 06 (Vulnerable)
Hengki Koentjoro
Photography - 43 x 43 x 0.02 cm Photography - 16.9 x 16.9 x 0 inch
$1,074
Above the clouds #5
Cody Choi
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0 inch
$662
The squares - Botanical study #87
Matthias Conrad
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,357
The squares - Botanical study #04
Matthias Conrad
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,357
The squares - Botanical study #101
Matthias Conrad
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,357
John Lennon NYC Shirt 1974
Bob Gruen
Photography - 127 x 101.6 x 5.1 cm Photography - 50 x 40 x 2 inch
$7,300
Tina Turner NYC 1970
Bob Gruen
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Photography - 40 x 30 x 2 inch
$5,600
30's Sensuality
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$204
Long day's journey into tomorrow
Elena Raceala
Photography - 91.4 x 61 cm Photography - 36 x 24 inch
$1,357
Street in Paris 5
Shengqi Tang
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$735
Two opinions one truth
Robert Stieghorst
Photography - 30 x 26 x 2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 10.2 x 0.8 inch
$1,470
Je ne suis pas content
Ghislaine Ferreira
Painting - 32 x 24 x 1 cm Painting - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
$452
Tirages sur papier : concave
Gottfried Jäger
Photography - 60 x 50 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$16,963
Tirages sur papier : double croix - IX 1996
Gottfried Jäger
Photography - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$16,963
Photo 111110.2
Gottfried Jäger
Photography - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$7,916
Photo 111103.5
Gottfried Jäger
Photography - 70 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
$7,916
Act 9 | Hello? We need a doctor
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$283
Does your Gucci make you happi?
Brendan North
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 cm Photography - 20 x 16 inch
$1,550
In-between B2
Nikolay Stefanov
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$837
Mist Mountains
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$271
Storm Clouds and Fence (Canada)
Dwight Lu
Photography - 29 x 39 cm Photography - 11.4 x 15.4 inch
$550
Mt. Pulag Sunrise (Philippines)
Dwight Lu
Photography - 29 x 39 cm Photography - 11.4 x 15.4 inch
$550
Mahatao Lighthouse (Batanes, Philippines)
Dwight Lu
Photography - 29 x 39 cm Photography - 11.4 x 15.4 inch
$550
Lake and Cloud (Alberta, Canada)
Dwight Lu
Photography - 29 x 39 cm Photography - 11.4 x 15.4 inch
$550
Once Upon a Time
Rika Maja Duevel
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,368
Sans titre #6
Thierry Valencin
Photography - 47 x 39 x 4 cm Photography - 18.5 x 15.4 x 1.6 inch
$1,583
Filets de lumières
Dominique Jullien
Photography - 17 x 31 x 1 cm Photography - 6.7 x 12.2 x 0.4 inch
$271
Où est Charlie ? II
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$554
Jet d'oiseaux sur Beaubourg
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$136
Écorce, portrait I
Yoann Merienne
Painting - 200 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
$13,571
Ear Cast
Lyubena Fox
Fine Art Drawings - 45 x 35 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 17.7 x 13.8 x 0.8 inch
$905
Sourire Omar
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 28 x 43 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11 x 16.9 x 0.1 inch
$792
Bouche homme
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$792
Bouche femme
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$792
Jeune touareg
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 45 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$792
Le photographe
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$792
Enfant école coranique sénégal
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$792
BB King On Stage - Guitar Starlight, LA Forum
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
An Island in the Air
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 50 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$565
An Island in the air
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 50 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$565
Urbain typographie - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$170
Tre Archi_02_2021
Serena Zeppilli
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$679
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!