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Nude Prisca - Série Soul - Black is Beautiful
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 100 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$9,958
HeartBeat, Selfportrait
Chiara Mazzocchi
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$548
Salle d'attente 6
Gatien Mabounga
Fine Art Drawings - 120 x 100 cm Fine Art Drawings - 47.2 x 39.4 inch
$2,766
Jason and Robin, Camber Sands
Richard Dunkley
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 inch
$454
Le feu sacré, Noto, août 2022
Veronica Mecchia
Photography - 18 x 24 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.4 inch
$664
Div-Ine XIV
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine XIII
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine XII
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine XI
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine X
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine VIII
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine VII
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Div-Ine VI
Magda Von Hanau
Photography - 81.3 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Sisyphe IV
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,427
Sisyphe III
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,427
Fragmented-Untitled 4
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Fragmented-Untitled 3
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Glo V GF
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$1,427
Glo I GF
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$1,427
La plage II
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,106
Haskins Posters Front Cover
Sam Haskins
Photography - 61.2 x 52.7 cm Photography - 24.09 x 20.76 inch
$7,100
1915 Le bustier de NINA
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
$3,264 $1,632
1915 Rêveuse LOU dreaming
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
$3,264 $1,632
1915 La Joueuse de cartes Cards player Lady
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
$3,817 $1,909
1915 Europa Europa
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
$5,477 $2,739
1915 Sublime ROSE
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
$4,371 $3,934
1915 Lascive LEA Lascivious
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 53 cm Photography - 16.9 x 20.9 inch
$4,371 $3,934
1915 Nue au perroquet Nude with parrot
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
$5,477 $4,929
Seed V, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Seed VI, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Seed IX, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Seed III, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Desert Flower, Canary Islands.
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$3,000
Seed IV, Desert Flower, Italy
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Seed VIII. From the Dessert flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Seed I - Desert Flower, Italy
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
On the Bowery #2
David Jay
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
$3,700
Roman statue study 09. B&W
Luca Artioli
Photography - 101.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$3,000
A whirlwind of emotions #2
Rani Bruchstein
Photography - 60 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$4,819
Don't Tell Mamma #11
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$5,250
Don't Tell Mamma #8
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 88.9 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 35 x 0.1 inch
$5,250
Nu de la mer
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 59.5 x 49.4 x 1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 19.4 x 0.4 inch
$6,418
Black beauty II
Léa Bon
Photography - 48 x 72.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.9 x 28.59 x 0.1 inch
$6,000
Untitled: Movement 1
Ben Cope
Photography - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$2,400
H0396 - The farmer
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$3,043
H0390 - The flop
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,766 $2,628
Untitled
Mauricio Velez
Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Don't Tell Mamma #16
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Don't Tell Mamma #12
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 95.3 x 64.8 x 3.8 cm Photography - 37.5 x 25.5 x 1.5 inch
$4,000
Don't Tell Mamma #9
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Invacuo Project #27
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
$4,900
Invacuo Project #24
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
$4,900
Self Touches #10
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 119.4 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 47 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$4,900
A blurred story of a bride
Solomon Jamy Brown
Photography - 100 x 70 cm Photography - 39.4 x 27.6 inch
$3,541
Nude of Isabelle in Milan
Andrei Cristian Petrescu
Photography - 60 x 80 x 4 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 1.6 inch
$3,983
Modernismo M102
Giuliano Bekor
Photography - 130 x 120 x 10 cm Photography - 51.2 x 47.2 x 3.9 inch
$16,597
Shirley
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 125 x 200 x 0.1 cm Photography - 49.2 x 78.7 x 0 inch
$19,917
Georgianna
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 120 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$12,171
Fragmented-Untitled 5
Ying Chen
Photography - 203.2 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
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!