Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Tokyo
Christer Stromholm
Photography - 28.5 x 20.5 x 1 cm Photography - 11.2 x 8.1 x 0.4 inch
$4,000
Paul Mc Cartney of The Beatles at George V Hotel
Roger Kasparian
Photography - 100 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$4,281
Interior de la Iglesia de Espejo (Cordoba) en septiembre de 1937
Equipo Realidad
Print - 69 x 71 cm Print - 27.2 x 28 inch
$336
La mer et la montagne
Jérome Obiols
Photography - 100 x 140 x 0.1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 55.1 x 0 inch
$4,148
De Myrha à Babylone - Série poussette crèche 2
Valérie Donzelli
Photography - 22.5 x 22.5 cm Photography - 8.9 x 8.9 inch
$336
Lignes de fuite
Igor Conroux
Photography - 34 x 24 x 1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
$168 $151
Dans les rues de Biot
Raph Eye's
Photography - 30 x 20 x 4 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 1.6 inch
$157
E2
Jean-Paul Veison Marcelli
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$176
Jeune femme
Albena Vatcheva
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$465
Symbiose n.1 - Format M
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 90 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
Mythology
Nobuyoshi Araki
Photography - 107 x 81 x 0.2 cm Photography - 42.1 x 31.9 x 0.1 inch
$24,664
Line Obsession
Delphine Diallo
Photography - 30 x 22 x 2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 8.7 x 0.8 inch
$3,083
Paula on the beach
John Isaacs
Photography - 130 x 130 x 0.8 cm Photography - 51.2 x 51.2 x 0.3 inch
$17,938
Catch Me If You Can
MARC LAGRANGE
Photography - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$10,650
Baccarat II, Paris
Ellen von Unwerth
Photography - 36.8 x 54.6 cm Photography - 14.5 x 21.5 inch
$9,000
Série Lignes Blanches, A
Stefan Hoareau
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
$4,372
2050-69
Van de Camp & Heesterbeek
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$3,924
Oblivion. Hidden identity.
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 50 x 60 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 inch
$841
Nudo con giglio
Massimo Attardi
Photography - 100 x 100 x 4 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.6 inch
$4,036
Golfers - black and white photography
Allan Teger
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$1,682
Les enveloppes - image 5/13
Sarah Salazar
Photography - 140 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$1,682
#40 - Free As A Veil
Eric Lespinasse
Photography - 72 x 128 x 2 cm Photography - 28.3 x 50.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,075
Room 310 - 12 Prints Collector Portfolio # 3 - Fine Art Photography
Eric Ceccarini
Print - 30 x 21 x 0.3 cm Print - 11.8 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$908
Ocean (dialog)
Nadia Heart
Fine Art Drawings - 75 x 75 x 0.01 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.5 x 29.5 x 0 inch
$785
Ancient Dunes, Photograph, Archival ink jet
Aaron Knight
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$720
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #3
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,906
Translacìon 360° I
Francisco Vázquez
Photography - 51 x 77 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20.1 x 30.3 x 0.1 inch
$617
Lady in Lace
Tran Huy Hoan
Photography - 96.5 x 88.9 x 0.6 cm Photography - 38 x 35 x 0.25 inch
$4,000
Phoebe, La Barque
André Carrara
Photography - 18 x 15 x 2 cm Photography - 7.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inch
$841
Kate Moss At 16
Jake Chessum
Photography - 101 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 39.8 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$3,588
Nude Carla Bruni, Harper Bazaar 1992
Philipe Robert
Photography - 100 x 75 x 5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 2 inch
$12,332
Haskins Posters Front Cover
Sam Haskins
Photography - 61.2 x 52.7 cm Photography - 24.09 x 20.76 inch
$7,100
Elena Mar, odalisca en mio patio
Alberto García-Alix
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$16,817
Ma liberté
Luc Masson-Todeschini
Photography - 25.9 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 10.2 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$336
Sans titre
Alexandre Saint-Loup
Photography - 150 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$2,724
Metaphysical Body Landscape #55
Anna Laza
Photography - 27 x 40 cm Photography - 10.6 x 15.7 inch
$493
Fiddlehead Fern
Mark Arbeit
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 1.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.5 inch
$2,200
Glance Towards the Oblivion
Fathi Hassan
Photography - 76 x 50 cm Photography - 29.9 x 19.7 inch
Price upon request
Hands Off
Lars Beusker
Photography - 126 x 166 x 5 cm Photography - 49.6 x 65.4 x 2 inch
Price upon request
Baltic_Ice_II_Helsinki_013
Bernhard Lang
Photography - 90 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,242
Ferrari Tire Change (XS)
Tyler Shields
Photography - 38.1 x 50.8 cm Photography - 15 x 20 inch
$2,500
Queen of Flowers - Format M
Clara Diebler
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$561
Fenêtres 013 - Deux ombres et un passant
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 100 x 70 cm Photography - 39.4 x 27.6 inch
$1,457
Fenêtres 012 - Le clocher
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$1,009
Fenêtres 010 - Rétrovision
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
$1,457
Fenêtres 09 - On the road
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 50 x 70 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 inch
$1,009
Fenêtres 06 - Bain de soleil
Rodolfo Franchi
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$1,009
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!