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Yves Saint Laurent, préparation de sa 1ère collection
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 24.5 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 9.6 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$670
Lotus Ornament Large Format
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 105 x 77 x 0.1 cm Print - 41.3 x 30.3 x 0 inch
$2,567
Bird cage
Sebastian Riemer
Photography - 105 x 130 x 3 cm Photography - 41.3 x 51.2 x 1.2 inch
$7,814
Petit Prince
Jean François Humbert
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.15 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
$4,242
Sans titre
Julien Drogoul
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,005
Sans titre
Julien Drogoul
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,005
Sans titre
Julien Drogoul
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,005
Sans titre
Julien Drogoul
Photography - 70 x 105 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.1 inch
$1,340
Village Adrianna
Sophie Bassouls
Photography - 33 x 48 x 0.5 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.2 inch
$837
Dix petits moines - série Une Vie de Moine
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
$491
Réfectoire vide
Jean-François Talivez
Photography - 13 x 35 x 0.1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 13.8 x 0 inch
$491
Femmes en exil
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 45 x 65 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 25.6 x 0 inch
$1,340
Kaleidoscope 66 BW
Michael Filonow
Photography - 101.6 x 81.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 32 x 0.1 inch
$845
The pigeon man
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,507
Sans titre (Un jour, une photo)
Aline Part
Photography - 67 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$558
Pêcheurs aux narguilés
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$558
L'échappée belle
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$558
La mariée qui pleure
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$558
Les deux frères
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$558
Vieille ville de Srinagar
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
Sindhu Palchowk
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
Le voile de la mariée
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
Femmes Q’eqchi’
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
Dans les pas de Gandhi
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
Les cavaliers Gujars
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 39 x 49 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.4 x 19.3 x 0 inch
$893
La mariée qui pleure
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 45 x 59 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.2 x 0 inch
$1,228
Les danseuses de Baba Usundi
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 45 x 65 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 25.6 x 0 inch
$1,340
L’échappée belle
Marie Dorigny
Photography - 38 x 58 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15 x 22.8 x 0 inch
$1,563
The Golden Lane
Kirill Postovit
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 13 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 5.1 x 0 inch
$190
Centauros III
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.5 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 inch
$5,500
The Silent Language
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 45.7 x 32 x 0.5 cm Photography - 18 x 12.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,600
The Mimic
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 30.5 x 39.6 x 0.5 cm Photography - 12 x 15.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,200
Principios de la Hospitalidad II
Isabel Herrera
Photography - 38.1 x 38.1 x 1 cm Photography - 15 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$1,953
Principios de la Hospitalidad I
Isabel Herrera
Photography - 38.1 x 38.1 x 1 cm Photography - 15 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$1,953
The old REX
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,507
Marilyn Rare Black Dress Large
Bert Stern
Photography - 102 x 92 cm Photography - 40.2 x 36.2 inch
$31,256
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$279 $251
Quinta de Regaleira Cintra
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$279 $251
Floating memories 03
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$893
La Tortue de Kerlouan
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Arbres calcinés du champ de bataille 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Tranchées de Beaumont-Hamel 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Tour d'Ulster - Guerre 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Mémorial Australien de Villers-Bretonneux
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Mémorial Franco-Britannique de Thiepval 14-18 (1) (1)
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Cimetière Britannique de Contay 14-18
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 34 x 51 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13.4 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$179
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$670
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$670
Une nuit pluvieuse
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$670
Dear Irving...
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.02 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,340
Un jardin pour Eugène D. #09
FLORE Photographer
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$4,019
Un jardin pour Eugène D. #02
FLORE Photographer
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$4,019
L'Envers
Christelle Yambayisa
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$2,121
Retranchement
Christelle Yambayisa
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$2,121
Fresh News #1 - série Reflects & Transparencies
Anna Levesh
Photography - 60 x 45 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 inch
$837
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!