Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
« The Clash »Simonon et Strummer / Athènes
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
Sold
L'autre monde
Shérazade (Sher) Auclair
Photography - 50 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Les cantonniers, Rue des Martyrs, Paris 9, 1950
Louis Stettner
Photography - 25 x 20 cm Photography - 9.8 x 7.9 inch
Sold
Horizon - Black and White Landscape
Gina Vor
Painting - 15 x 18 x 0.3 cm Painting - 5.9 x 7.1 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Souk des tanneurs, Fès
José Nicolas
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
Sold
La Nuit au Chalet 1935
Willy Ronis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Intermezzo 2
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 55.9 x 53.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 21 inch
Sold
Thunderball Casino James Bond 007
Alasdair MacGregor
Photography - 101 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 39.8 x 39.8 x 0 inch
Sold
Institut II
Michaël Brack
Fine Art Drawings - 36 x 26 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 14.2 x 10.2 x 0 inch
Sold
Constance III (SG126)
Sylvie Guyomard
Sculpture - 32 x 32 x 2 cm Sculpture - 12.6 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Ikit's Drop Knee (Landscape)
Archie Geotina
Photography - 60.96 x 88.9 cm Photography - 24 x 35 inch
Sold
Marilyn Getting Ready To Go Out (1955)
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 76 x 51 cm Photography - 29.9 x 20.1 inch
Sold
Broadway, New York
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Cave rue de la Huchette, Saint Germain
Willy Ronis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Take four
Anet Duncan
Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 23 x 5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 9.1 x 2 inch
Sold
Photo-respiration 1998 Yura #340
Tokihiro Sato
Photography - 33 x 48.3 cm Photography - 13 x 19 inch
Sold
Paris, métro Royal 1954
Willy Ronis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Requiem pour pianos 93
Romain Thiery
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Leslie Caron (actrice) et Mary Quant (couturière), aparté entre femmes dans la chambre de la femme de Stanley Donen
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 28.5 x 42.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.2 x 16.7 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Callipyges dans une rue de New York
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Séance de relaxation chez les Rowan à Chicago
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Le repos du cirque Pinder - Touraine
Willy Ronis
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Dutch Courage
Anet Duncan
Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 22 x 5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 8.7 x 2 inch
Sold
Le Petit Chaperon Rouge
Alexandre Granger
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
Sold
Feelin' the Surf (1962)
George Barris
Photography - 68 x 58 x 1 cm Photography - 26.8 x 22.8 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Chuck Wein, New York City
Burt Glinn
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 cm Photography - 20 x 16 inch
Sold
Untitled (girl with two stripes)
Mikael Siirilä
Photography - 22 x 15 cm Photography - 8.7 x 5.9 inch
Sold
Le Papillon - The Butterfly
Alex Konahin
Fine Art Drawings - 46 x 33 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.1 x 13 x 0.4 inch
Sold
My life in a nutshell I
Geert Lemmers
Photography - 81.3 x 99.1 x 2.5 cm Photography - 32 x 39 x 1 inch
Sold
Illustration from the series "Les Fleurs du mal"
Odilon Redon
Print - 32.5 x 25 x 0.2 cm Print - 12.8 x 9.8 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Marilyn Monroe. Bungalow
André de Dienes
Photography - 34 x 27 x 1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 10.6 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Norma Jean (1945)
André de Dienes
Photography - 28 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 11 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Marilyn Monroe
André de Dienes
Photography - 27 x 27 x 1 cm Photography - 10.6 x 10.6 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Marylin Monroe (1949)
André de Dienes
Photography - 27 x 28 x 1 cm Photography - 10.6 x 11 x 0.4 inch
Sold
Sometimes there is safety in numbers
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Seeing with all that I am
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Love: the center of all things
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
In stillness, in solitude, I count 09
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
In stillness, in solitude, I count 08
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
In stillness, in solitude, I count 06
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 cm Photography - 10 x 9 inch
Sold
In stillness, in solitude, I count 04
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
In stillness, in solitude, I count 03
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 3 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 1.2 inch
Sold
I will consider the cost, always
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
A portrait of surrender and serenity
Christa David
Photography - 25.4 x 22.86 x 2 cm Photography - 10 x 9 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Angry
Joanna Glazer
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
Sold
Asphodel
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
Sold
Asphodel
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
Sold
Self-Portrait, Silver Gelatin Print, Signed in Pencil -Printed later Unframed
Paul Citroen
Photography - 23.7 x 18 x 0.3 cm Photography - 9.32 x 7.07 x 0.1 inch
Sold
Chanel Autrement / Océan.
Franck Doat
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
Sold
Vertige métaphysique
Michel Narbonne
Painting - 58 x 58 x 2 cm Painting - 22.8 x 22.8 x 0.8 inch
Sold
La naissance des haricots
Michel Narbonne
Painting - 58 x 58 x 2 cm Painting - 22.8 x 22.8 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Ce matin j'ai le cafard
Michel Narbonne
Painting - 58 x 58 x 2 cm Painting - 22.8 x 22.8 x 0.8 inch
Sold
Composition à l'encre
André Marfaing
Fine Art Drawings - 64 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.2 x 19.7 inch
Sold
Marilyn New York Taxi Listening
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 25 x 30 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 inch
Sold
Marilyn Takes It To The Streets
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 40 x 51 cm Photography - 15.7 x 20.1 inch
Sold
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!