Black and white
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Tatacoa II, Pigment Prints
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 91.9 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36.2 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
€2,418
Untitled 18
Ghylan Safadi
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 75 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 29.5 inch
€2,128
Retratos #29
Leonardo Fernandez Della Pietra (Lolo)
Fine Art Drawings - 15 x 10 cm Fine Art Drawings - 5.9 x 3.9 inch
€300
Bosque Alto Andino Chingaza
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 35.6 x 27.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14 x 11 x 0.1 inch
€484
Untitled Morocco 22
Ziad Naitaddi
Photography - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
€700
Untitled Morocco 18
Ziad Naitaddi
Photography - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
€700
Peripheral visions - 11
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 100 x 150 cm Photography - 39.4 x 59.1 inch
€1,800
Peripheral visions - 10
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€1,200
Peripheral Visions - 08
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 100 x 150 cm Photography - 39.4 x 59.1 inch
€1,800
Peripheral Visions - 07
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
€1,200
Chirac, 1967 / Paris Match
Patrice Habans
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€1,500
Fête de L'Humanité
Walter Carone
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€750
Rue de Rivoli (au temps de la Covid 19)
Alexis Duclos
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€540
California IV
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 40 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€1,000
California VI
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 40 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€1,000
The Way of the Salt Worker - 12
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 11
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 09
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 08
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 06
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 05
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 04
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 03
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 02
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
The Way of the Salt Worker - 01
Bruno Palisson
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€900
Peak Mid Winter #9
Jonathan Moore
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€911
Peak Mid Winter 8
Jonathan Moore
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€911
Peak Mid Winter #7
Jonathan Moore
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€911
Peak Mid Winter #3
Jonathan Moore
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€911
Brooklyn, Pigment Prints
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€2,418
Brainstorming Trees
Gonçalo Martins
Photography - 29 x 29 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.4 x 11.4 x 0 inch
€160
People, Milano. From the Mundo da Sombras Series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
€2,418
Untitled 6 (Paris)
Arslan Sükan
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch
€3,869
Untitled 14 from the series of INtheVISIBLE
Arslan Sükan
Photography - 180 x 140 x 0.1 cm Photography - 70.9 x 55.1 x 0 inch
€4,352
Untitled 30 from the series of INtheVISIBLE
Arslan Sükan
Photography - 140 x 110 x 0.1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 43.3 x 0 inch
€4,352
3 - La montée de Persephone
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€800
2 - Les âges de la vie - Naguère
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€800
2- Le rapt de Persephone
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€800
Friday morning, six o'clock III
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€300
Friday morning, six o'clock II
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€300
Friday morning, six o'clock I
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€300
Water beyond water 14
Fabrice Constant
Photography - 90 x 60 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 inch
€1,100
Silence and soul
Richard Kelley
Photography - 75 x 50 x 4 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 1.6 inch
€1,500
Aiguille du Grépon
Eric Bouvet
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,800
Glacier des Bossons sous nuages
Eric Bouvet
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,800
L’Aiguille Verte
Eric Bouvet
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,800
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!