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Micheal Jordan - Portrait
OverSide
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$391
Fog in the Italian Dolomites
Jan Brunclík
Photography - 60 x 200 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 78.7 x 0 inch
$2,662
Untouchable Light
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,928
Silhouette Portrait
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,928
Untouchable Light II
Deana Nastic
Photography - 101 x 76 x 1 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,928
Clouds and Rain
Wai Ming Lung
Photography - 135 x 90 x 0.01 cm Photography - 53.1 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$3,915
Mausoleum of Prince Etmad-Dowlah
Samuel Bourne
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 cm Photography - 20 x 30 inch
$246
Statue. From the The Labyrinth series
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Untitled, From Lullaby Series
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Joan Collins – the Stud, Limousine, London.
David Steen
Photography - 97 x 137 x 0.01 cm Photography - 38.2 x 53.9 x 0 inch
$4,753
Twiggy and John Steed (Patrick Macnee)
David Steen
Photography - 137 x 100 x 0.01 cm Photography - 53.9 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$4,753
Sean Connery – County Wicklow, Ireland
David Steen
Photography - 78 x 111 x 0.01 cm Photography - 30.7 x 43.7 x 0 inch
$3,221
Untitled II. From The Balance Series
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Le vœu à l'Univers
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 57.5 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 22.6 x 0.1 inch
$3,132
Le Salut
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 56 x 69 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 27.2 x 0.1 inch
$5,033
Latex & Honey Lifestyle
Ulrich Trüssel
Photography - 90 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$3,355
Natura Morta, From Paranoia series
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 88.9 x 127 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 50 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Lines, White Sands
Heike Bohnstengel
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$548
Lieutenant Henry Robertson Bowers
Herbert Ponting
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 cm Photography - 40 x 30 inch
$386
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
$2,684
Michael Lonsdale
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 25 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$3,132
Secrétariat à Chandigarh
Lucien Hervé
Photography - 26 x 26 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.1 inch
$4,250 $3,825
La victoire de Christophe Charbonnel
Michel Di Maggio
Photography - 80 x 120 x 5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$2,796
Poséidon (Christophe Charbonnel)
Michel Di Maggio
Photography - 110 x 94 x 5 cm Photography - 43.3 x 37 x 2 inch
$2,796
Héros de l'ombre #12
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,566
Héros de l'ombre #11
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #10
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,566
Héros de l'ombre #9
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #8
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #7
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #5
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,566
Héros de l'ombre #1
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #2
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Héros de l'ombre #4
Carlos Arriagada
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,398
Seul - Photographie scène de vie en bord de mer
Denis Morel
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$492
Mr et Mme Hulot - Photographie scène de vie en bord de mer
Denis Morel
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$492
El Mundo entero
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$475
Destiny, 2009, From the series of "While You Are Sleeping"
Arslan Sükan
Photography - 105 x 133 x 0.1 cm Photography - 41.3 x 52.4 x 0 inch
$7,000
Disappearance, 2009, From the series of "While You Are Sleeping"
Arslan Sükan
Photography - 105 x 133 x 0.1 cm Photography - 41.3 x 52.4 x 0 inch
$8,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.7 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
"Standing Ballet", Archival pigment print mounted on aluminum intervened
Efren Isaza
Painting - 165.1 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 65 x 48 x 1 inch
$13,000
Wellenelement Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
$16,777
Lichtreflex - Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 36 x 29 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11.4 inch
$13,422
Lichtreflex - Translation / Rotation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 28 x 38 cm Photography - 11 x 15 inch
$13,422
Wellenelement multiple Rotation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
$16,777
Wellenelement Transformation
Hein Gravenhorst
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
$16,777
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!