Black and white
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
Georgianna
Thierry Le Gouès
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€4,200
Sisyphe (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
€750
De la Série 'Blanc et Noir'
Carlos Antonio Sablon Perez
Painting - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
€6,000
Détente en famille
Jean-Louis Toutain
Sculpture - 30 x 68 x 38 cm Sculpture - 11.8 x 26.8 x 15 inch
€18,000
Act 11 | Best hotel in town
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 10 | A glass of champagne
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 8 | Peak Climax - all tricks allowed
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 7 | The things we would do for an espresso
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 6 | Home office
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 5 | S-extremely thirsty
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 4 | It all came out in the wash
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Act 12 | Boarding complete
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€250
Lady on Raft
Tran Huy Hoan
Photography - 76.2 x 104.1 x 0.6 cm Photography - 30 x 41 x 0.25 inch
€3,881
In Silk We Trust!
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 56 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 22 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€190
According to Francis Bacon
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€490
Would you swim with me? XV
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
€190
Would you swim with me? XIV
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
€190
1915 Le bustier de NINA
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 x 0.5 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 x 0.2 inch
€2,950
1915 Rêveuse LOU dreaming
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
€2,950
1915 La Joueuse de cartes Cards player Lady
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
€3,450
1915 Lascive LEA Lascivious
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 53 cm Photography - 16.9 x 20.9 inch
€3,950
1915 Nue au perroquet Nude with parrot
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
€4,950
Naïade
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€400
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
€400
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
€400
Aphrodite
Gino Charpentier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€400
More Sketches of Spain - for Miles Davis
George Condo
Print - 130 x 97 cm Print - 51.2 x 38.2 inch
€6,500
Black Beauty
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 52 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 20.5 x 0.1 inch
€540
Patrick Dupond
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 70 x 57 x 0.2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 22.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,200
Tropical Bath
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
€650
Around the corner
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
€650
Les Femmes au Pouvoir
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
€650
Strippers in a Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Leonard Freed
Photography - 27.9 x 35.6 cm Photography - 11 x 14 inch
€4,851
Divadlo na Prádle
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 61 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 32 x 0.1 inch
€1,746
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
€1,164
Series: The skin of Mars - Skin 6
Antonio Briceño
Photography - 60 x 50 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 inch
€2,500
Ombre
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€500
Underbreast Covered
Tony Potts
Photography - 40.6 x 55.9 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16 x 22 x 0 inch
€1,843
CH.Vision 1619
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 60 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
€540
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
€79
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
€90
Nus rouges - Picasso Grand Palais
Pierre Collin
Print - 90 x 63 x 1 cm Print - 35.4 x 24.8 x 0.4 inch
€700
CoRpus AC maNus
Louis Blanc
Photography - 70 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 0 inch
€6,500
Untitled
Mauricio Velez
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 inch
€3,396
Perfect Body
Klaus Roethlisberger
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€540
Aperture Rapture
Hollie Miller
Photography - 27.2 x 47.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.7 x 18.7 x 0.1 inch
€850
Sisyphe II
Patrick Strajnic
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€1,290
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
€4,851
Fusione
Riccardo Buonafede
Fine Art Drawings - 20.4 x 28.9 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8 x 11.4 inch
€250
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
€7,200
Langue de danseuse
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 24 x 16 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 6.3 x 0 inch
€300 €270
There are no coincidences II
Mary Rozzi
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
€1,200
There are no coincidences I
Mary Rozzi
Photography - 50 x 40 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 inch
€1,200
Will we find a way?
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 80 x 100 cm Photography - 31.5 x 39.4 inch
€6,000
Collection Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon - HB1809
Idan Wizen
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€150
Collection Purity - Un Anonyme Nu Dans Le Salon - HB1552
Idan Wizen
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€150
Garden of ethernity 3
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,892
Éclat de cosmos
Charles Bayonne
Photography - 50 x 50 x 5 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 2 inch
€700
Quelle étoile est la mienne ?
Jan Saudek
Photography - 38 x 30 cm Photography - 15 x 11.8 inch
€2,000
Intimiste
Gabriel Quirant - Pidet
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€500
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!