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Libido and Mortido, Portrait #47
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
€3,838
Libido and Mortido, Portrait #4
George Mayer
Photography - 90 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.43 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
€3,838
Libido and Mortido, Portrait #38
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Taijitu, Portrait #4
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Taijitu, Portrait #3
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
€4,797
Sans titre
Alexandre Saint-Loup
Photography - 150 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0 inch
€2,430
Kællingedigte Poemes a la garce (Jens August Schade)
Lars Bo
Print - 46 x 36 cm Print - 18.1 x 14.2 inch
€300
Kællingedigte Poemes a la garce (Jens August Schade)
Lars Bo
Print - 46 x 36 cm Print - 18.1 x 14.2 inch
€300
Kællingedigte Poemes a la garce (Jens August Schade)
Lars Bo
Print - 46 x 36 cm Print - 18.1 x 14.2 inch
€300
Sisyphe II grand format
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€2,189
Night Vision. Barcelona
Dmitry Savchenko
Photography - 150 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0 inch
€3,400
Danse 4
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€300
Danse 3
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€300
Danse 1
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 50 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
€300
In d mood 4 love
Justin Chan
Photography - 80 x 56.5 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 22.2 x 0.2 inch
€9,500
Early in the cloudy morning, 1
Jan Saudek
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
€2,200
Chicago Funky Budha Lounge
Tony Wang (aka Wrongwroks)
Print - 101 x 51 cm Print - 39.8 x 20.1 inch
€260
Les enveloppes - image 8/13
Sarah Salazar
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
€413
Les enveloppes - image 5/13
Sarah Salazar
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
€413
G3
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 120 x 80 x 3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
€1,160
Atelier Sylvie Gaudin, African Bed
Mark Arbeit
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 x 1.3 cm Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.5 inch
€8,635
L'Encre dans la Peau
Charly Desoubry
Photography - 100 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
€950
Do you smoke after ? #2
Charly Desoubry
Photography - 100 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
€950
Do you smoke after ? #1
Charly Desoubry
Photography - 100 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
€950
Elle Le regard
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€230
Kira's Tattoo
Richard Dunkley
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.5 inch
€305
Dumping
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€315
ND (en collaboration avec Alcibiade)
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€210
Thésée et le Minotaure/ Theseus and the Minotaur
Phil Skolle
Photography - 80 x 121 x 3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.6 x 1.2 inch
€950
Homage to Matisse
Richard Dunkley
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
€488
C3
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€420
C2
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€420
C1
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€420
Marie une amie /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
€230
ELLE Photographie volée /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
€270
Elle La Sirène
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€270
Elle The wall /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€270
ELLE L'horizon /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€270
SHE and the setting sun /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€270
Ma sirène en noir et blanc ou en couleur /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€230
My first nudes 1978 N°5 /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€230
Elle Son corps dévoilé /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
€230
Marie au Château 1
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.1 inch
€230
Elle Le matin /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€230
My first nudes 1978 N°4 /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 42 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 16.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€230
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!