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!

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Black and white

Audrey Hepburn

André Villers Photograph of Picasso

Photographie de Brigitte Bardot

The Brig

New York Glitter

From Valentina to O

Twickenham Streaker

Amazing Spiderman

Sans Titre

Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw France

Spiral Stairwell

Monica Bellucci

Banana leaves #7

Corazón

Don't Tell Mamma #4

Choreography

Ray Charles

Last London Bus

Shadow of Camels

Âne

Flower Girl Faces - Paris Harper's Bazaar

Memento I

Black Flag

Erotica Plume 2006 Feather

Little Buddha

Pirelli Bouchra

Dream Lake 2

Eléctrico 28

Tropico 7

Gabriel García Márquez Portrait

Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch

Kate Moss

Sauter (Überspringen)

Portrait of Sabau (too much pressure)

Succession

Coeur Brisé

Le rond de dés

I,ll be your mirror

Girls

Ost und West, 1945

Première Pierre

''Gunina''en Givenchy, Paris le 5 Août 1955 Elle Magazine

Senza titolo

Le baiser

Expo 92

Selfie @ Altitude - Belgium

Coffret Au chic parisien - Tiré à part # 2

Sans titre

El templo de santa Barbara

Legend

Shoot again (887)

Culinary Atronomy #1

Peak Mid Winter #4

Marilyn Monroe

E.Doll n°65

Pays #028

Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais

Splash

Bertrand de Broc

Elizabeth Taylor Spain

Joiner’s Shop Cairo

Lovecraft

Trellick Tower

Spiral Staircase

La Fenice

Guggenheim Museum