Black and white
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Langage des mains 2
Jean-Claude Mathier
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
€1,046
Luna Toscana
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€390
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
€250
Water Wheels, China. Silver gelatin print
Monica Denevan
Photography - 38 x 38 cm Photography - 15 x 15 inch
€966
Fantastique noir et blanc n°18
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
€270
Fantastique noir et blanc n°1
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
€270
Fantastique noir et blanc n°9
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
€270
Écorce, portrait I
Yoann Merienne
Painting - 200 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
€12,000
Almost
Jinny Yu
Fine Art Drawings - 152 x 122 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 59.8 x 48 x 1.2 inch
€13,154
Dudley Moore & Peter Cook – London
David Steen
Photography - 61 x 46 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 18.1 x 0 inch
€1,380
Elizabeth Taylor – Elstree Studios, England
David Steen
Photography - 46 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.1 x 24 x 0 inch
€1,380
Bosque alto andino chingaza
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 109.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 43 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque húmedo tropical III Nuqui
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque húmedo tropical II Nuqui
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 91.4 x 109.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 43 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Paesaggio, 1980
Mario Giacomelli
Photography - 21 x 32.8 x 0.1 cm Photography - 8.3 x 12.9 x 0 inch
€1,300
Lost & Found (2)
Théo Gosselin
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
€2,200
Morichal, Cumaral
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Cascada, Gachantivá
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Palmas de Cera, Pijao
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque de Palmas, Toche
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque de niebla II Chicaque
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque de niebla Chicaque
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque Tropical Húmedo II Nuquí
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque Alto-Andino II Charrascal
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Bosque Alto-Andino Charrascal
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Monolito Sumpaz
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Laguna de la Magdalena, Pigment Print
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 91.9 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36.2 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
€1,934
Au-delà de nous-même 2
Clara Cena
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€500
Robert Plant et Jimmy Page
Jean-Pierre Roux
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
€990
Mick Jagger et Keith Richards
Jean-Pierre Roux
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
€1,990
Teinturières
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€700
La mécanicienne
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 28 x 43 x 1 cm Photography - 11 x 16.9 x 0.4 inch
€700
Arabesque
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
€2,620
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
€150
1915 La Haine Hatred Vintage Photo of a famous painting by VALLOTTON
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
€1,950
Nature morte Poireaux 1911 Leeks Still life
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
€1,450
1915 Pommes Apples
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
€1,950
1915 Fleurs Citron Flowers Lemon
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
€1,950
1911 Meules de foin Haystacks
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
€1,450
1911 Maison de campagne Country house
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
€1,450
1915 Escalier du village Village Stairs
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
€1,750
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!