Trio de choc. Cratère du Ngorongoro. Hippopotame. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
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!
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Singe du Rajasthan aux guets. Inde du nord
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
Mère et fils. Singe. Inde du nord.
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$925
Charge de l’Éléphant. Kenya
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
Troupeau de Zèbres dans le parc de Tarangire. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
Troupeau de lion dans le Gruger parc en Afrique du sud.
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
Girafe et girafon. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
Éléphant d'Asie et son cornac. Rajasthan. Inde
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$925
The Soul of Trees III
Viet Ha Tran
Print - 59.9 x 89.9 x 0.3 cm Print - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,000
Rentré au stand pour Ayrton Senna. F1
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$925
Ayrton Senna. Brésil 1994. F1
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$925
Ayrton Senna Podium Brésil. F1
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$925
Waiting for the drums
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$817
Bright path - Size M
Clara Diebler
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$578
N°80-4 14A (NG22)
Nicolas Galtier
Painting - 80 x 80 x 3 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 1.2 inch
$2,543
Ocean Nightscape No.6
Angela Cameron
Photography - 71.1 x 71.1 x 0.5 cm Photography - 28 x 28 x 0.2 inch
$1,200
Ocean Nightscape No.2
Angela Cameron
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.8 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.3 inch
$1,400
Rotondità 1963 (Rondeurs) - Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 110 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$2,647
Hausa and Fula cultures collide
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,716
Arabesque
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$3,028
N°100.150-24 19 (NG86)
Nicolas Galtier
Painting - 100 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
$4,970
Cheveux d'Encre Émotion
Feng Kaixuan
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$832
Coluche - Iconic portraits
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$694
Jean-Marc Barr
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$694
Les Nuls en Ripolin
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$694
Pierre Desproges
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$694
Chris Martin Coldplay
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 51 x 41 cm Photography - 20.1 x 16.1 inch
$2,046
Le petit marseillais
Rodrigo
Photography - 23.8 x 14.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 5.8 x 0 inch
$867
Le tre Vespe, 1962 - Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 70 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
$2,647
Passages #812
Nagsoul
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 100 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,734
Barman danseur
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,098
No81 Spirit Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 115 x 85 x 3.5 cm Photography - 45.3 x 33.5 x 1.4 inch
$4,207
Music Notes (Party At The Moontower)
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Print - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$231
Steve McQueen. War Lover. Détente
George Barris
Photography - 36 x 28 x 1 cm Photography - 14.2 x 11 x 0.4 inch
$798
Nuances tribal
Jonathan Pradillon
Painting - 29 x 29 x 3.5 cm Painting - 11.4 x 11.4 x 1.4 inch
$150
