Black and white
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1 km² (livre d'artiste)
Luc Médrinal
Photography - 18 x 18 x 2.5 cm Photography - 7.1 x 7.1 x 1 inch
$368
Elur eta Sua (livre d'artiste)
Luc Médrinal
Photography - 18 x 18 x 0.5 cm Photography - 7.1 x 7.1 x 0.2 inch
$223
Behind Her Back
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 30 x 20 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 inch
$290
Les chats de Schrödinger (9)
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$184
Marseille, le Vieux Port
Claude Vesco
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$391
Discours sur la servitude volontaire
Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux
Print - 70 x 50 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$167
OMO: Untitled 10
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
OMO: Untitled 45
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
Campo San Polo
Vassilia Kouboulis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$391
Pointe du diable N&B
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$893
Dark Beach
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,060
Le Débarcadère
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 40 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,060
Prédateurs
Korsé
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$279
Cafe de Flore (Ravelstein)
Richard Dunkley
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
$641
Le Voyeur / Peeping Tom d'après le film de Michael Powell (1960)
Fabrice Montignier
Fine Art Drawings - 37 x 37 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14.6 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch
$435
The Calligrapher’s Hand
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 30 x 20 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 inch
$290
En attendant la neige / 2
Adrianna MJW
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$1,060
Pyramid riding
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,116
Thérapie Taxi au Zénith de Paris
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 21 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 8.3 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$335
Spirit of the Camargue
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,842
Dance of the Sea
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
Majesty At Sea
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
Velvet Crest
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
Yosemite Awakens
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,121
Encounter II
Drew Doggett
Photography - 40.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,842
Watusi in Profile
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,842
Sacred ground
Drew Doggett
Photography - 30.5 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,842
Arbre
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$56
Série des mètres
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$1,395
Série des mètres
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$1,395
Série des mètres
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$1,395
Sisyphe
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$1,842
Les arbres royaux
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$625
Vautour
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$335
Crâne
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 21.5 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.5 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$313
Crâne
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 22.8 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$313
Dijon, the traveler
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$558
Corde à sauter II
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$335
Corde à sauter III
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$335
Une nuit en Espagne
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.2 inch
$391
Sans titre
Juliette Wegrzyk
Photography - 30 x 22.5 x 0.01 cm Photography - 11.8 x 8.9 x 0 inch
$726
Bells of Montalcino
Donna Carnahan
Photography - 91.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm Photography - 36 x 48 x 1.5 inch
$1,695
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!