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The End of the World
Alain Le Chapelier
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
€780
Marilyn Getting Ready To Go Out
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 30 x 25 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 inch
€295
Chimigramme 26/8/77 VI „Minimal Photography“
Pierre Cordier
Photography - 50 x 50 x 5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 2 inch
€17,000
Gaudí 028
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 60 x 80 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 inch
€800
Madrid, Espagne
Jean-Christophe Béchet
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€690
Les porteuses d’eau, N'Djamena, Tchad
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€350
On the Kitchen Table 12
Nadezhda Oleg Lyahova
Photography - 50 x 75 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 inch
€2,300
Cabinet of Souls (Armoire à Âmes)
Laura Makabresku
Photography - 20 x 20 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 inch
€325
Manifest 2
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 53.34 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 40 inch
€2,377
Marguerite Duras
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,900
Barman danseur
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,900 €2,465
Baiser noir et blanc
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,900
Karl Largerfield soirée Kenzo
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
€2,900
Senza titolo
Elio Marcucci
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
€300
Miguel y la Rosa Three
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
€6,237
Woman with lute ( Ervina Kupferova )
Frantisek Drtikol
Photography - 11 x 7 cm Photography - 4.3 x 2.8 inch
€700
Antonio Banderas. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Jamie Dornan, B&W Portrait intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Notre-Dame de Paris
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 18 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.1 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
€790
Les ponts de la Seine
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 31 x 18.5 cm Photography - 12.2 x 7.3 inch
€790
Tulipes en black and white
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
€790
Bouquet blanc
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 21 x 33 x 0.2 cm Photography - 8.3 x 13 x 0.1 inch
€790
À travers l'horloge
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
€790
Poisson d'argent
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 57 x 38 x 0.2 cm Photography - 22.4 x 15 x 0.1 inch
€1,340
Becs de Perroquets
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 36.9 x 24.6 x 0.2 cm Photography - 14.5 x 9.7 x 0.1 inch
€740
Escena interior. Solstickan
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 81 x 116 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 31.9 x 45.7 x 0.8 inch
€2,500
Bruma Portfolio
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 35.6 x 27.9 x 5.1 cm Photography - 14 x 11 x 2 inch
€2,878
Sous Mac, Niteroï
Carol Aplogan
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€700
Grandma divers VIII
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,500
Grandma divers VI
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,500
Grandma divers XV
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,500
Grandma divers XVII
Alain Schroeder
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,500
Fernandel / Paris Match
Walter Carone
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch
€1,600
Montand, Signoret / Paris Match
Walter Carone
Photography - 53 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,000
Wakako, Photograph intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 44.5 x 54.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.5 x 21.5 x 0.1 inch
€3,358
Invitation to Heavens, Slovenia
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 90 x 60 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 inch
€500
The Pontoon, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€500
The call of the air 02, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€500
The call of water
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€500
Alcalin B&W, Ballestas Islands, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€500
Une nuit à Malabar
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
€2,460
La Tour Seegmuller - 2
Jean Valera
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.6 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€190
A Boy with a Sled, Winter
Alexander Sviyazov
Sculpture - 45 x 18.3 x 11.5 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 7.2 x 4.5 inch
€4,500
Miles Davis "It's About Time", Fillmore East, NYC, June 18, 1970
Glen Craig
Photography - 45.7 x 104.1 x 5.1 cm Photography - 18 x 41 x 2 inch
€3,406
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
€500
Autoportrait 1972 Hunger Pegof à la cigarette
Florian Hunger-Pegof
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
€1,900
Fish Eye Autoportrait
Florian Hunger-Pegof
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.2 inch
€1,900
A Hard-Working Great Egret
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 x 0.25 cm Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 inch
€700
Wings of the Sky
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 60.96 x 76.2 x 0.25 cm Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.1 inch
€600
Fluidity of a woman IV
Katya Taneva
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
€3,440
Charles Aznavour
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€690
Arielle Dombasle
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€690
Benjamin Biolay
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€690
Cyclos y Renacimientos
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
Don Ricardo
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
Doña Martha
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
El Sueño de la China
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
Fiestas y Sueños
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
Generaciones y Creencias
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,341
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!