Black and white
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Les Maquereaux
Jean-Baptiste Sénégas
Photography - 30 x 20 x 2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.8 inch
$3,197
De Myrha à Babylone - Duo Jeanne 1
Valérie Donzelli
Photography - 35 x 35 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 inch
$449
Paris 13ème "Olympiades Vibes N°2" (M)
Papa Mesk
Photography - 80 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$898
Paris 13 ème "Olympiades Vibes N°1"
Papa Mesk
Photography - 80 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$898
Paris 13 ème Olympiades Vibes N°3
Papa Mesk
Photography - 80 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$898
Time stopped. - limited edition of 21
Valentin Zaharia
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$443
24h du Mans 1970-Littéralement porté en triomphe, l’ingénieur Porsche Helmut Flegl, 14 juin 1970.
Jacques Violet
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$393
24h du Mans 1970-Jean-Pierre Beltoise ou H. Pescarolo au volant de leur MS 660 n°31, 13 juin 1970.
Jacques Violet
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$393
Série des mètres
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$1,402
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
$393
Welcome on board !
Pierre Gély-Fort
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$393
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
$280
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
$213
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
$438
1 km² (livre d'artiste)
Luc Médrinal
Photography - 18 x 18 x 2.5 cm Photography - 7.1 x 7.1 x 1 inch
$370
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
$224
Behind Her Back
Jordana Ozier Lafontaine
Photography - 30 x 20 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 inch
$292
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
$185
Vautour
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$337
Plage de l'Île-Grande /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 80 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 inch
$258
Marseille, le Vieux Port
Claude Vesco
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$393
Discours sur la servitude volontaire
Arnaud Labelle-Rojoux
Print - 70 x 50 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$168
OMO: Untitled 10
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,132
OMO: Untitled 45
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$2,132
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
$898
Dark Beach
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,066
Le Débarcadère
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 40 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,066
Campo San Polo
Vassilia Kouboulis
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$393
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!