Black and white
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This is so Illegal
Yann Merran
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
€700
De l'un à l'autre 1&2 (diptyque)
Jean-Freddy
Painting - 81 x 120 x 3 cm Painting - 31.9 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
€1,100
Vassilis with farm equipment
Jen Sloan
Photography - 35 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 13.8 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€900 €810
Straight to heaven
Stephanie Powell
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
€650 €520
Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw France
Jean-Claude Sauer
Photography - 61 x 45.7 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 18 x 2 inch
€1,306
Octopus#3
Jean-Baptiste Sénégas
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€900
Tenerife, Anaga Forest
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€500
Dior Paris
Bart Van Leeuwen
Photography - 88.9 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Photography - 35 x 30 x 2 inch
€1,934
Rothko Chapel, Houston
Hervé Gloaguen
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
€1,800
Cardiff by night
Jodi Bieber
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€2,220
Le chaos est une structure
Philippe Piccardi
Photography - 60 x 60 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 inch
€175
Gaia sphère
Patrick Lamouroux
Sculpture - 98 x 48 x 48 cm Sculpture - 38.6 x 18.9 x 18.9 inch
€4,400
Andy Warhol with Boxes, 1964
Ken Heyman
Photography - 35.6 x 29.2 x 1.3 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 0.5 inch
€4,642
Amanda Lear - Couturière HQ
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 54 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 21.3 x 0.1 inch
€1,200
Serie "Les sacrés" Sacré vent!
Anthony Godet
Photography - 47 x 50 cm Photography - 18.5 x 19.7 inch
€890
Circumambulate. The Doldrums, from the series "SPAR/CUBA"
Paul Meleschnig
Photography - 30.5 x 20.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12 x 8 x 0.1 inch
€1,451
Yosemite National Park. USA on the road
Tina Smeraldi
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
€1,750
Temporality 1
Edin Mustafic
Photography - 51 x 37.5 x 1.5 cm Photography - 20.1 x 14.8 x 0.6 inch
€600
Senza titolo
Elio Marcucci
Fine Art Drawings - 25 x 30 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€330
Lewis / Paris Match
Philippe Le Tellier
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,600
Frank Zappa, Fillmore East, NYC, 1968
Elliott Landy
Photography - 45.5 x 61 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.9 x 24 x 0 inch
€1,000
Lichtmalerei 180.18.2003
Karl-Martin Holzhäuser
Photography - 133 x 133 x 5 cm Photography - 52.4 x 52.4 x 2 inch
€32,000
Ying Yang
Alex Pariss
Fine Art Drawings - 140 x 110 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 55.1 x 43.3 x 0.4 inch
€1,000
La Nageuse - Série Clope
Johan Desma
Photography - 80 x 120 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 inch
€1,890
Homeland
Anet Duncan
Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 21 x 7 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.2 x 8.3 x 2.8 inch
€680
Photographie de John Steinbeck
Roy Schatt
Photography - 24 x 23 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inch
€690
The music inside
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 140 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 41.3 x 0 inch
€3,158
Voir les yeux fermés - sans titre #19
Fabrice Domenet
Photography - 30 x 30 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 inch
€1,100
Tre Archi_09_2021
Serena Zeppilli
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€600
3K Project - Untitled N° 07
Steeve Bauras
Photography - 80 x 53 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 1.6 inch
€2,000
Secret Invasion
Lenil Yu
Fine Art Drawings - 44 x 28 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 17.3 x 11 x 0.4 inch
€2,600
Adriana Rayén
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
€1,336
White Type E
Cédric Marcadier
Photography - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€1,100
''Gunina''en Givenchy, Paris le 5 Août 1955 Elle Magazine
Georges Dambier
Photography - 74 x 68 x 2 cm Photography - 29.1 x 26.8 x 0.8 inch
€3,500
Wicked Game | Ponza, Italy
Serge Guerand
Photography - 53 x 80 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 inch
€1,980
Sin título (Prayer Flags Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Sculpture - 45 x 52 x 0.5 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 20.5 x 0.2 inch
€221
Keanu Reeves Signed Limited Edition Photograph
Markus Klinko
Painting - 61 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 24 x 20 x 0.1 inch
€4,256
Children of Bafmeng / Their life-Cameroon
Gilbert Ryu
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€750
Les marches du Louvre #01
Hannaka
Photography - 32 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
€590
Belmondo / Paris Match (1)
Gragnon François
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€2,000
Lis Lève toi et Marche
Olivier Rebecq
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€580
Servitude, Tome 3, Planche 31
Eric Bourgier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 47 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 18.5 inch
€4,000
1 - La descente de Persephone
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€800
Looking for balance
Danielle Mano Bella
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€1,500
Dietrich / Paris Match
Paul Slade
Photography - 80 x 53 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 0 inch
€1,600
Guerre d'Algérie, 1962
Maurice Jarnoux
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€600
Kelly, Aumont / Paris Match
Jack Garofalo & Michou Simon
Photography - 55 x 55 x 0.1 cm Photography - 21.7 x 21.7 x 0 inch
€1,600
Elliptic, recherche n°7
Clémentine Chambon
Fine Art Drawings - 40.8 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.1 x 11.7 x 0 inch
€700
Charito Zarate Torino
Ryan Arbilo
Photography - 50 x 70 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
€800
Chanel Haute Couture
Bruno Bisang
Photography - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€4,000
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!