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Ray of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,596
Marilyn Rare Black Dress Large
Bert Stern
Photography - 102 x 92 cm Photography - 40.2 x 36.2 inch
€28,000
Au coeur de la membrane 3
Sezny Peron
Sculpture - 45 x 45 x 3 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
€1,500
Exploflora Series No.66
Sumit Mehndiratta
Painting - 86 x 155 x 2 cm Painting - 33.9 x 61 x 0.8 inch
€1,100
Exploflora Series No.65
Sumit Mehndiratta
Painting - 110 x 206 x 2 cm Painting - 43.3 x 81.1 x 0.8 inch
€2,000
Untitled No. 58
Sumit Mehndiratta
Painting - 111.8 x 203.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 44 x 80 x 2 inch
€2,000
Exploflora Series No.29
Sumit Mehndiratta
Painting - 111.8 x 203.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 44 x 80 x 2 inch
€1,480
Exploflora Series No.28
Sumit Mehndiratta
Painting - 111.8 x 271.8 x 5.1 cm Painting - 44 x 107 x 2 inch
€1,980
The old REX
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,350
The Coen Brothers (2001)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 61 x 51 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 inch
€2,100
Serge Gainsbourg au Palace
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€450
Un jardin pour Eugène D. #10
FLORE Photographer
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€5,100
Marilyn Glamour 2010
Russell Young
Photography - 92 x 72 x 2 cm Photography - 36.2 x 28.3 x 0.8 inch
€17,000
Les sandales - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 35 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0 inch
€440
Les sandales 2 - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Le barbu - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Le sucre, Père Jean-Joseph - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
L'évier - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
L'Escalier - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Tonsure, la valse - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Tonsure, humilité
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Père Pio-Marie
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Les trois carreaux
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
L'Ampoule
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
€2,400
Michael Lonsdale
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 25 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 15 x 0.4 inch
€2,800
Reflecting landscape 11
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 80 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€1,400
End Of Empire, Kantharos
Cleon Peterson
Print - 30.5 x 40.5 x 0.1 cm Print - 12 x 15.9 x 0 inch
€500
Cheveux d'Encre - Emotion III
Feng Kaixuan
Painting - 200 x 80 x 1 cm Painting - 78.7 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
€3,300
Storm over the Altiplano
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 75 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 inch
€1,154
Cloned Griffon Bruxellois With Pet Bottle
William Sweetlove
Sculpture - 40 x 40 x 18 cm Sculpture - 15.7 x 15.7 x 7.1 inch
€1,400
Dix petits moines - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
€440
Tonsure, la cicatrice - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Tonsure, de dos
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Balade en forêt
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€440
Réfectoire vide
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 13 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 13.8 x 0 inch
€440
Premier Contact
Christelle Yambayisa
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
€2,800
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 22 x 57 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 22.4 x 0.4 inch
€2,800
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
€2,400
Sans Titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 27.5 x 27.5 x 1 cm Photography - 10.8 x 10.8 x 0.4 inch
€2,400
Sans titre
Jean-François Spricigo
Photography - 30 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
€2,600
Electric Cowboy
Pauline Corto
Photography - 57 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 22.4 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€480
Hausa and Fula cultures collide
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,518
Torre del hoyo oscuro (Identity Testimonies Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€475
Symphony of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,596
Textures of Silence
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,838
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!