Black and white
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Fire of the Himba
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,040
Jeune Nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 70 x 70 x 2.5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1 inch
$1,997
Approach
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 96 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 37.8 x 0 inch
$2,939
Eve With The Golden Apple
Kirill Postovit
Fine Art Drawings - 90 x 61 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35.4 x 24 x 0 inch
$561
Let There Be Light! #1
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Sans titre
Ayako David Kawauchi
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 x 1.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 inch
$1,010
Let There Be Light! #10
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Temptation (Tentation)
Laura Makabresku
Photography - 40 x 40 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
$869
Ambre au ballon
Arnaud Ele
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$393
Black Angel Standing
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 22 x 22 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,066
Guerrière avec boule à paillettes
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 22 x 22 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,066
Guerrière radiographiée
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,066
Guerrière courbée
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,010
Let There Be Light #20
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light #19
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light #18
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #17
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light #16
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #15
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #12
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #9
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #8
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #7
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #6
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Let There Be Light! #3
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Nu (série, croquis)
Kitty Sabatier
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$617
Indian Autumn 2
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 59.4 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$1,907
Sára + dívka (Sarah and girl)
Jan Saudek
Photography - 17.9 x 13.9 cm Photography - 7 x 5.5 inch
$1,683
2050-69
Van de Camp & Heesterbeek
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$3,927
Blanc et noir (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 35 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
Arolla (Suisse)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
Née de la Vague
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 50 x 32 x 0.05 cm Photography - 19.7 x 12.6 x 0 inch
$3,927 $3,534
Couple femmes
Claude Guillaumin
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,851
Fabrice Emaer et les bodybuilders
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,066
Danse des lasers
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,066
Façon Marilyn
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,066
De la série : La beauté des femmes - ingénieux
Matthias Leupold
Photography - 18 x 23 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.1 inch
$1,346
De la série : La beauté des femmes - aspiration
Matthias Leupold
Photography - 18 x 23 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.1 inch
$1,346 $1,010
De la série : La beauté des femmes - thoughtfull
Matthias Leupold
Photography - 20 x 15 cm Photography - 7.9 x 5.9 inch
$1,346 $1,023
Noir ou Blanc META Graphic 01
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$684
Adventure
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$881
La brezza
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$881
Distant sky
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$729
Curves #30
Michal Zahornacky
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,683
Anna Lava Rock
Jean-Léonard Polo
Photography - 135 x 200 x 2 cm Photography - 53.1 x 78.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,010
Would you swim with me? XII
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 61.8 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 24.3 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$213
Would you swim with me? XI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$213
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!