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Roaming Horses
Martin Munkacsi
Photography - 26.4 x 34.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 10.38 x 13.5 x 0.1 inch
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Shadows’s city: Berlin
Udo Roosen
Photography - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
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Death Valley, États-Unis
Stephane Cormier Cormier
Photography - 47 x 47 x 1 cm Photography - 18.5 x 18.5 x 0.4 inch
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Nice, le plongeoir, La Réserve, bateau en direction de la Corse
Patrice CLEMENT
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
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The Midnight Symphony
Kirill Postovit
Fine Art Drawings - 24 x 34 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.4 x 13.4 x 0 inch
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The dominating personality of my banker
Daniel Erban
Fine Art Drawings - 56 x 76 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 29.9 inch
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Looking for my centre
Jose Ladrón de Guevara
Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 130 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 51.2 inch
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Dot, dot, dot... ... ... 6/10
JP Malot
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 70 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 27.6 inch
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The Tea At Fife O'Clock (Alice In Wonderland)
Kirill Postovit
Painting - 200 x 150 x 2 cm Painting - 78.7 x 59.1 x 0.8 inch
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La mariée qui pleure
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
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Dans les pas de Gandhi
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
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Virginie Ledoyen
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
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Charles Aznavour
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
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Marilyn Monroe at Grand Central Station
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 25 x 30 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 inch
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Marilyn Takes It To The Streets
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
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Marilyn Takes It To The Streets
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 25 x 30 cm Photography - 9.8 x 11.8 inch
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Nous sommes tous des enfants
Jean Valera
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
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Brigitte Bardot à 17 ans
Walter Carone
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
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Échange au milieu du silence
Âme Sauvage
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Des vacances à la Neige
Âme Sauvage
Painting - 40 x 40 x 2 cm Painting - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
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Herd of Elephants
Eric Isselée
Photography - 82 x 100 x 5 cm Photography - 32.3 x 39.4 x 2 inch
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Nous sommes tous des enfants - 2
Jean Valera
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
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Nous sommes tous des enfants
Jean Valera
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
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Receiver 3
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 74.9 x 55.9 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.5 x 22 inch
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Receiver 1
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 74.9 x 55.9 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.5 x 22 inch
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Immersion
Jade Dreyfuss
Fine Art Drawings - 124 x 84 x 4 cm Fine Art Drawings - 48.8 x 33.1 x 1.6 inch
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Bérénice Bejo & Stéphane de Groodt
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
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Voir la vie du bon angle
Jean-Michel Landon
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
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Holding the center as I am
Christa David
Photography - 35 x 27.5 x 2 cm Photography - 13.8 x 10.8 x 0.8 inch
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Moda DIOR, Venezia 1951
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 55 x 36.5 x 0.1 cm Photography - 21.7 x 14.4 x 0 inch
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Claudia Cardinale à Rome, Italie
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
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Alberto Giacometti, Paris
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
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Le petit parisien
Willy Ronis
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
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Self portrait on the gulf on Naples
Daniele Sigalot
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
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Frida Kahlo en el jardín xochimilco, México (Framed)
Leo Matiz
Photography - 59.7 x 39.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.5 x 15.55 x 0.1 inch
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Agnès Varda - Les plages d'Agnès
Jean-Loup Gautreau
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
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Agnès Varda - Les plages d'Agnès
Jean-Loup Gautreau
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
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Anatol
Leni Riefenstahl
Photography - 49.8 x 37.5 x 1.3 cm Photography - 19.625 x 14.75 x 0.5 inch
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Der Sieger (Sieger)
Leni Riefenstahl
Photography - 49.8 x 37.5 cm Photography - 19.62 x 14.75 inch
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Windblown Jackie, Madison Av. NYC
Ron Galella
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
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Crying Glacier, Iceland
Gonçalo Martins
Photography - 29 x 29 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.4 x 11.4 x 0 inch
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The family, Skrova – Norway 2012
Gonçalo Martins
Photography - 19 x 19 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.5 x 7.5 x 0 inch
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Boat, Bridge, Fog Algarve
Gonçalo Martins
Photography - 19 x 19 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.5 x 7.5 x 0 inch
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Untitled_3
Célia Picard
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 32 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 12.6 x 0 inch
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La révérence d'un Dieu (2/8)
Dominique Mückli
Sculpture - 146 x 100 x 45 cm Sculpture - 57.5 x 39.4 x 17.7 inch
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Chanteurs de la Croix de Bois
Walter Carone
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
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1 - Les âges de la vie - Jadis
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
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Romy Schneider et Alain Delon
Maurice Jarnoux
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
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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!