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
MOON SHIN Portrait et Sculpture
John Craven né Conte
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$6,549
Micheal Jordan - Portrait
OverSide
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.2 inch
$388
Lattier Self-Portait with his creature
Christian Lattier
Photography - 18 x 13 cm Photography - 7.1 x 5.1 inch
$3,219
Boulangerie la Nuit
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$610
Une Place, photo primée Fisheye magazine, Rmn Grand Palais
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.4 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,054
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.7 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
All the others in me, New York
Maria Jose Arjona
Photography - 69.9 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.5 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$9,000
Table dressée
Monique Marchaisseau
Painting - 100 x 100 x 5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 2 inch
$2,553
La victoire de Christophe Charbonnel
Michel Di Maggio
Photography - 80 x 120 x 5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 2 inch
$2,775
"Standing Ballet", Archival pigment print mounted on aluminum intervened
Efren Isaza
Painting - 165.1 x 121.9 x 2.5 cm Painting - 65 x 48 x 1 inch
$13,000
Vague suspendue
Kathia Mohl
Photography - 54 x 212 x 3 cm Photography - 21.3 x 83.5 x 1.2 inch
$3,663
Paper people
Norman Reedus
Photography - 40.64 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
Window shopping
Norman Reedus
Photography - 40.64 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
But still punk
Norman Reedus
Photography - 40.64 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
Italian Grave
Norman Reedus
Photography - 50.8 x 40.64 x 2 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
Village psychic
Norman Reedus
Photography - 50.8 x 40.64 x 2 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
San Sebastian
Norman Reedus
Photography - 40.64 x 50.8 x 2 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.8 inch
$2,553
Western - Duel
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 51.1 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 20.1 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,054
Western
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 52.3 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 20.6 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,054
Cheval au galop
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$1,054
Free Spirit nº2
Pierre Cherix
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$499
Out of Shadows - New York City
Joseph Cela
Photography - 60.96 x 76.2 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.4 inch
$2,775
The Game
Christophe Battifero
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$466
Secrétariat à Chandigarh
Lucien Hervé
Photography - 26 x 26 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.1 inch
$4,218
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!