Black and white
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Bashung / Rio Grande
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
$1,570
Vingt-quatre premiers sonnets de Shakespeare dans la traduction de Yves Bonnefoy n°367
Zao Wou-Ki
Print - 35 x 28 cm Print - 13.8 x 11 inch
$4,260
Vingt-quatre premiers sonnets de Shakespeare dans la traduction de Yves Bonnefoy n°368
Zao Wou-Ki
Print - 35 x 28 cm Print - 13.8 x 11 inch
$4,260
Mère et enfant
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$3,363
Bilbao 30/09/2010 15:22h. (Identity Promises Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$953
Cathédrale, jeu de lignes
Marie-Odile Wagner
Painting - 53 x 15 x 2 cm Painting - 20.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inch
$247
Défilé Mugler - Zénith 84
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,682
Textures, White Sands
Heike Bohnstengel
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$617
Himba Beauty
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Waiting for the rain in Wamba
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,055
At the heart of Huile
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,054
Young Hamer Woman
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
Lion of the Kalahari
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
Fula Nomad at Golondi
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
Fulani Bapteme Ceremony
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
Rendille Mother and Child
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,054
Lady of the Arbore
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,054
The pure Wodaabe
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
At the edge of the Jade Sea
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,259
La Tortue de Kerlouan
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Arbres calcinés du champ de bataille 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Tranchées de Beaumont-Hamel 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Tour d'Ulster - Guerre 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Mémorial Australien de Villers-Bretonneux
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Mémorial Franco-Britannique de Thiepval 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Cimetière Britannique de Contay 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Jean-Marc Barr
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$673
Les Nuls en Ripolin
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$673
Pierre Desproges
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$673
Abbé Pierre
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$673 $605
Afar woman of Assaita
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,823
Samburu adornment
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,054
Disruption II. Wall sculpture intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 36 x 28 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Too deep, too closely
Saverio Filioli Uranio
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3.5 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.4 inch
$538
À côté de l'arbre
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 40 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
$1,289
Soul - Kate Hudson, Portrait. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 45.7 x 35.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 14 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Luna de Portugal, de la série Recetario
Carlos Pericás
Photography - 25 x 20 cm Photography - 9.8 x 7.9 inch
$202
Tina Turner, Los Angeles
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Tina Turner Smiling with Ikettes, Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, November 23
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
BB King Kodalith Performance - Close up, LA Forum
Glen Craig
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 2 inch
$1,750
Iggy Pop, Ann Arbor, MI, 1968
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Tina Turner, Los Angeles, CA
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Miles Davis, Fillmore East, NYC, June 17, 1970 III
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Lagerfeld above Logo, Fall/Winter 2006, Le Grand Palais Paris
Simon Procter
Photography - 240 x 178 x 5 cm Photography - 94.5 x 70.1 x 2 inch
$24,664
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!