Black and white
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Guy The Gorilla Regent's Park London
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Margaret Thatcher Apealing To The People
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Mick Jagger Forty Licks
Arthur Steel
Photography - 61 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 3
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
€1,825
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 5
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Captivated Audience
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Chauffeurs Feast Twickenham
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
€1,825
Crash Call Phone Box
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0 inch
€1,825
Crash Test Dummies
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Careless Whispers
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Catfight Female Mud Wrestlers 4
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Horseshoes Pile Luck Of The Irish
Arthur Steel
Photography - 61 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Ice Skating Priests
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Big Ben Big Bang
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
€1,825
Bashung / Rio Grande
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
€1,400
À côté de l'arbre
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 40 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
€1,150
Défilé Mugler - Zénith 84
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€1,500
Himba Beauty
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,466
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
€1,872
At the heart of Huile
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€960
Young Hamer Woman
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,147
Lion of the Kalahari
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,147
Fula Nomad at Golondi
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,147
Fulani Bapteme Ceremony
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,147
Rendille Mother and Child
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€960
Lady of the Arbore
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€960
The pure Wodaabe
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,147
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
€1,466
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
€480
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
€1,147
The Air We Breathe
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 10 x 15 cm Photography - 3.9 x 5.9 inch
€260
BB King On Stage - Guitar Starlight, LA Forum
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
€1,466
Cathédrale, jeu de lignes
Marie-Odile Wagner
Painting - 53 x 15 x 2 cm Painting - 20.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inch
€220
Afar woman of Assaita
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,375
Lits double
Christian Lefevre
Photography - 75 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
€920
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
€1,955
Luna de Portugal, de la série Recetario
Carlos Pericás
Photography - 25 x 20 cm Photography - 9.8 x 7.9 inch
€180
1971 Féraud Black Sculpture Metal
Albert Féraud
Photography - 35 x 45 cm Photography - 13.8 x 17.7 inch
€1,900
Dans la machine
Muriel Deumie
Photography - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€550
Absorbés par le temps - 5
Clara Cena
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€580
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!