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Uomini e Cappelli, 1955 - New York
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,851
François Truffaut, Paris
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,683
La Halle aux vins de Bercy
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$785
Chassé-croisé à l'entrée de l'hôtel Plaza, New York
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$729
Le repos des bikers, Los Angeles
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$841
Les adieux de Leningrad
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$841
L’Académie militaire, West Point, États-Unis, la parade finale
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$785
Inauguration de la chapelle Le Corbusier à Rongchamp
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$729
Felouques sur le nil
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$898
Noce berrichonne, la parade dans le village
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$841
Les Halles, Paris
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.3 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.1 inch
$729
De l'Autre côté du mur, Berlin
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$673
Isak Dinesen, baronne Blixen
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 41.5 x 28.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.3 x 11.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,683
Vérification de papiers dans le bidonville de Nanterre
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 33 x 50 x 0.3 cm Photography - 13 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,122
West Point: Yes Sir ! Un cadet accueille la nouvelle promotion
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 28.7 x 41.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.3 x 16.3 x 0.1 inch
$1,346
Course pour le bus scolaire. MiddleWest.
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 49 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.3 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$785
Marie Hélène chez Maxim's
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$954
L'annonciation (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
Retour au centre (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
La série : Orogenèse - Jackson
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
$11,219
The school kids nº3
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$617
The school kids nº2
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$617
Desvelando Gaudí 010
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$673
Desvelando Gaudí 08
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$673
La montée des eaux (2)
Fabienne Cresens
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
$1,234
Tina Turner On Stage
Mick Rock
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$2,216
Lou Reed Transformer
Mick Rock
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$2,216
Lou Reed And Andy Warhol
Mick Rock
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,216
The eye of the earth
Shulan Wang
Photography - 30 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,346
Have a soft dream with the moon
Shulan Wang
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,122
Being and nothingness
Shulan Wang
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,346
Place Vendôme
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Eiffel oiseaux
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Birhakeim 2
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 105 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 41.3 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Arc de triomphe
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Alexandre III
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,458
Personnage au discours fumeux
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 19 x 24 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.5 x 9.4 inch
$1,402
The lovin' Swans
Michaël Fok Bor
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$2,019
Chilhood Mirror
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,515
Anonymous right
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,515
Anonymous Left
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,515
Couple II - série oiseaux
Henry Ausloos
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,234
Steinerene Rinne, Wilder Kaiser, Nordwärts
Peter Neusser
Photography - 122 x 87 cm Photography - 48 x 34.3 inch
$3,590
Steamer series 1
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 66 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 40 inch
$3,009
Jean-Pierre Rives
Mark Leech
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$2,188
Moonrise IV
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Moonrise III
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Sol Mallorca
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
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!