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!

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Black and white

Raquel Welch On The Beach

Sans titre

Paysage dans le Désordre (Suite)

Un Fantôme sur la Ville

Hands

Série : Se faire passer pour Mao

Immersion

Ile de Brise Pain Creteil

4 monkeys

Lelo 1

Trio de Saltimbanques, Arles

In the water No 1

Ephélis

El origen del mar

Andy Warhol and Keith Haring

Go-between

Deep soul 84

A cold cliff

Black River 26

Piscine des Rigoles

Diego Rivera

Ensemble

Celebrating Life - #16

Arum Lily #1

Les Bains Déligny

These 2 photos were taken ....

IBEYI & JR - Paris - L'Olympia - série photo concert noir et blanc

Untitled 1

Big Horizontal

DeliRiUs

Invasion

Petit cadeau erotique in Milano

Photographie de Paysage Hivernal - Fuyu no Shi: Itareru H?y? : Poésie d’Hiver : Étreinte Givrée

Rising Tide

ManoScape, I

Sans Repères

Bivalva

Consecration

Tokyo Pic Nic II

Ville En Pollution

Rusty Cage

Fille aux sacs poubelles

Moissons de nuées

Air

Floral Ecstasy #12

Coney Island

Dior Paris

La Mana II

Bouddha de Bamiyan

Melon Bi- Polar

Solo dance

Teinturières

Mur 007

Late Night Behind the Bar in New Orleans

Museum Flowers

Square Dance

Mutum Village, Rio Gregório Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, Brazil (XL)

The Frosty Drive N (S)

Bocca di apparo

L’adieu aux armes, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzanie

Story of Love N°17 - Size M

Run DMC- Back to the source

Fall

Cowboy

Kilian

Vanité