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Georgianna
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$4,712
According to Francis Bacon
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$550
Naïade
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$449
Reflets dans l’eau
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$449
Jambe en l’air
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$449
Aphrodite
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$449
Détente en famille
Jean-Louis Toutain
Sculpture - 30 x 68 x 38 cm Sculpture - 11.8 x 26.8 x 15 inch
$20,194
Flowering
Rossella Mercedes
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
$146
Black Beauty
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 52 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 20.5 x 0.1 inch
$606
Patrick Dupond
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 57 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 22.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,346
Tropical Bath
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$729
Les Femmes au Pouvoir
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$729
Untitled 3
Benjamin Skinner
Photography - 90 x 63 x 1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 24.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,010
Lady on Raft
Tran Huy Hoan
Photography - 76.2 x 104.1 x 0.6 cm Photography - 30 x 41 x 0.25 inch
$4,000
H0427 – The crusher
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
F0488 – The surprising
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$841
F0564 – The dauntless
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,019
F0500 – The dancer
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,019
H0430 – The last one
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,019
F0479 - The fantasized
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,019
H0384 - The secretive
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,346
F0547 - The scared
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,346
F0555 - The duchess
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,346
Série Adam et Eve - 2/1
Line Taarnberg
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$449
Strippers in a Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Leonard Freed
Photography - 27.9 x 35.6 cm Photography - 11 x 14 inch
$5,000
Danseuse libre
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$3,254
Langue de danseuse
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$3,254
Libido and Mortido, Portrait #4
George Mayer
Photography - 90 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.43 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Libido and Mortido, Portrait #38
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Divadlo na Prádle
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 61 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$1,800
Ombre
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Bettie Page ‘Two- Peace Leopard Print Suit', Key Biscayne, FL
Bunny Yeager
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Untitled- One of a kind pencil and gold paint figure drawing on paper
Juan C. Estrada
Fine Art Drawings - 99.1 x 67.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39 x 26.5 inch
$1,200
Series: The skin of Mars - Skin 6
Antonio Briceño
Photography - 60 x 50 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 inch
$2,805
Nus rouges - Picasso Grand Palais
Pierre Collin
Print - 90 x 63 x 1 cm Print - 35.4 x 24.8 x 0.4 inch
$785
CH.Vision 1619
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 60 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$606
Perfect Body
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$606
Aperture Rapture
Hollie Miller
Photography - 27.2 x 47.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.7 x 18.7 x 0.1 inch
$954
Fusione
Riccardo Buonafede
Fine Art Drawings - 20.4 x 28.9 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8 x 11.4 inch
$280
It's in your own mind
Rossella Mercedes
Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 17 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 6.7 x 0 inch
$89
Elevation
Rossella Mercedes
Fine Art Drawings - 25 x 19.2 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.8 x 7.6 x 0 inch
$101
Sisyphe II
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,447
Will we find a way?
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 80 x 100 cm Photography - 31.5 x 39.4 inch
$6,731
Série Adam et Eve 1 - 1/3
Line Taarnberg
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$449
Série Adam et Eve - 2/3
Line Taarnberg
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$449
Untitled
Mauricio Velez
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Don't Tell Mamma #5
Koray Erkaya
Photography - 81.3 x 119.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 32 x 47 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Human Being 1564 - Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon
Idan Wizen
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,805
There are no coincidences II
Mary Rozzi
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
$1,346
There are no coincidences I
Mary Rozzi
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
$1,346
L'autre rive
Maryse-Anne Couteau
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,693
Thierry - Je me souviens de mon corps d'enfant inquiet
Jean-Pierre Le Boul'ch
Painting - 117 x 89 x 4 cm Painting - 46.1 x 35 x 1.6 inch
$8,078
Garden of ethernity 3
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,950
Quelle étoile est la mienne ?
Jan Saudek
Photography - 38 x 30 cm Photography - 15 x 11.8 inch
$2,244
Intimiste
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Prisme
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$561
Fragment 2
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$561
Fragment 1
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$561
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #9
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 59.5 x 79.5 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.4 x 31.3 x 0.2 inch
$2,468
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #1
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.5 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.2 inch
$3,590
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!