Black and white
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Le petit marseillais - Collection Hey Mars
Rodrigo
Photography - 23.8 x 14.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 5.8 x 0 inch
$565
004 - American Circus Paris
José Nicolas
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$622
003-American Circus Paris
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$622
Secours en Montagne
José Nicolas
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$622
Somalienne et son enfant
José Nicolas
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$735
Tokyo crossing V
Sven Pfrommer
Photography - 150 x 75 x 3 cm Photography - 59.1 x 29.5 x 1.2 inch
$3,381
Les gens du lac. Pêcheurs relevant leurs filets.
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 22 x 22 x 0.1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0 inch
$396
Les gens du lac. Mère et fille.
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 22 x 22 x 0.1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0 inch
$396
Les gens du lac. Portrait de groupe.
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 22 x 22 x 0.1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0 inch
$396
Denny Radoncic
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 45.72 x 60.69 x 0.5 cm Photography - 18 x 23.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Will Moncada
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 60.69 x 45.72 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.9 x 18 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Miles Reza
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 60.69 x 45.72 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.9 x 18 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Breakfest
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 60.69 x 45.72 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.9 x 18 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Miles Reza
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 60.69 x 45.72 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.9 x 18 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Timo Maas
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 60.69 x 45.72 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.9 x 18 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
I-Type
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 43.35 x 35.75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 17.1 x 14.1 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Jour de marché
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$395
The ballerina
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 105 x 140 x 0.1 cm Photography - 41.3 x 55.1 x 0 inch
$3,441
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$520
Promenade dans le Jura, Cuba
Cristina García Rodero
Photography - 80 x 120 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 inch
$17,529
Série : María Lionza. La déesse des yeux de l'eau - La main protectrice, Venezuela
Cristina García Rodero
Photography - 80 x 120 x 5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$17,529
Série : María Lionza. La déesse des yeux de l'eau - Lune et soleil pour un amour, Venezuela
Cristina García Rodero
Photography - 80 x 120 x 5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$17,529
Miles Davis - le groupe
Hervé Pezzini
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
$283
Frozen trees 24
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 20 x 26 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 10.2 x 0 inch
$396
Frozen trees 4
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 20 x 26 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 10.2 x 0 inch
$396
Frozen trees 13b
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 20 x 29 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$418
Frozen trees 22b
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 20 x 34.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 13.7 x 0 inch
$452
Self Portrait 1964
Anthony Horth
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$400
This Or Nothing
Alexander Benz
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$520
In Bed With Helmut
Alexander Benz
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$520
Rock n roll
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.2 inch
$848
Col de San Stefano
Sébastien Castillo
Photography - 20 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$249
Colourful bottles
Patricia Restrepo
Painting - 60.96 x 45.72 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 18 x 1.2 inch
$4,071
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!