Black and white
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Il jouait du piano debout...dans l'ascenseur
Pierre Gély-Fort
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€350
Welcome on board !
Pierre Gély-Fort
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€350
Esprit de la nature
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 26 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 10.2 x 0 inch
€250
Deux hommes et un criquet
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 26 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
€190
Calle Betis
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 26 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
€390
1 km² (livre d'artiste)
Luc Médrinal
Photography - 18 x 18 x 2.5 cm Photography - 7.1 x 7.1 x 1 inch
€330
Elur eta Sua (livre d'artiste)
Luc Médrinal
Photography - 18 x 18 x 0.5 cm Photography - 7.1 x 7.1 x 0.2 inch
€200
Behind Her Back
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 30 x 20 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 inch
€260
Les chats de Schrödinger (9)
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€165
Plage de l'Île-Grande /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 80 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 inch
€230
Marseille, le Vieux Port
Claude Vesco
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€350
Discours sur la servitude volontaire
Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux
Print - 70 x 50 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
€150
OMO: Untitled 10
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
OMO: Untitled 45
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
Pointe du diable N&B
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
€800
Le Débarcadère
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 40 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
€950
Campo San Polo
Vassilia Kouboulis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€350
Prédateurs
Korsé
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
€250
Cafe de Flore (Ravelstein)
Richard Dunkley
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 1 inch
€595
Le Voyeur / Peeping Tom d'après le film de Michael Powell (1960)
Fabrice Montignier
Fine Art Drawings - 37 x 37 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14.6 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch
€390
The Calligrapher’s Hand
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 30 x 20 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 inch
€260
En attendant la neige / 2
Adrianna MJW
Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
€950
Pyramid riding
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
€1,000
Thérapie Taxi au Zénith de Paris
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 21 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 8.3 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€300
Spirit of the Camargue
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,650
Dance of the Sea
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
Majesty At Sea
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
Velvet Crest
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
Yosemite Awakens
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,900
Encounter II
Drew Doggett
Photography - 40.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,650
Watusi in Profile
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
€1,650
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!