Black and white
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Big wheel Osaka
Cécile Baldewyns
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
$943
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$555
L'oeil et la petite fumée
Pierre Schwartz
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
$777
The devil is here #1
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Painting - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
$211
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$555
Restaurateur de porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$666
Atelier de porcelaine II
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$666
Atelier de porcelaine I
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$666
Fours traditionnel à bois pour le porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$555
Grands ensembles 13 2
Raynald Najosky
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$666 $599
Mémoire de JingDeZhen Pause
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$666
Mémoire de JingDeZhen Atelier 6
Feng Hatat
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$666
Billy Bob Thornton Smoking
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101.6 x 76.2 cm Photography - 40 x 30 inch
$4,418
Serge Gainsbourg au Palace
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$3,663
Tiger's Retreat
Drew Doggett
Photography - 50.8 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Titans of Time
Drew Doggett
Photography - 61 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$3,310
Velsheda In Pursuit
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Windy Solitude
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Young at Heart
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Summer Dream
Drew Doggett
Photography - 40.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Steadfast
Drew Doggett
Photography - 47.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Katmai's Veil
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
In Position
Drew Doggett
Photography - 32.4 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Force of Nature
Drew Doggett
Photography - 33 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 13 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Bear Country
Drew Doggett
Photography - 41.9 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.5 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Mundari's Pride
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Djenné, Mali
Jean-Christophe Béchet
Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$766
Rotondità 1963 (Rondeurs) - Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 110 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$2,542
Ombre et lumière III
Feng Hatat
Photography - 48 x 32 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 12.6 x 0.4 inch
$555
Shore Break
Bernard Biancotto
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$666
No77 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,908
Urbain brutalisme - Digital Art digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$277
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$555
Ombre et lumière 7
Feng Hatat
Photography - 70 x 50 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.8 inch
$666
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$666
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$666
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$555
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$666
Ombre et lumière #5
Feng Hatat
Photography - 48 x 32 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 12.6 x 0.4 inch
$666
Ombre et lumière II
Feng Hatat
Photography - 48 x 32 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 12.6 x 0.4 inch
$555
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!