Black and white
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Boyz N the Hood
Samuel Cueto
Photography - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,005
Men Legs One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Amongst the camels
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,551
Storm Series (Ref 844)
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 46 x 46 cm Fine Art Drawings - 18.1 x 18.1 inch
$1,269
Spiritualized (1994)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
$4,443
Architectural Extract N.10 - Archi-Lines Series
Anna Levesh
Photography - 100 x 75 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 inch
$993
Architectural Extract N.3 - Archi-Lines Series
Anna Levesh
Photography - 99.6 x 79 cm Photography - 39.2 x 31.1 inch
$993
Iggy Pop - Ungano's Club, first NYC gig 1970
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Iggy Pop, Stooge Hall, Ann Arbor, MI, 1969
Glen Craig
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 2 inch
$1,500
Iggy Pop - Ungano's Club, first NYC gig 1970
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Miles Davis, NYC, 1970 IV
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Miles Davis, NYC, 1970
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
Richard Ashcroft (1999)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
$4,443
Red Hot Chili Peppers (1992)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
$4,443
La passerelle du Croaë
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 26 x 45 x 0.2 cm Photography - 10.2 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,060
Graphisme d'arbre
Mathieu Pujol
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$949
The eyes of the boat
Samuel Cueto
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,005
Little girls on the street
Samuel Cueto
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,005
Wall Street, New York City
Leonard Freed
Photography - 48.3 x 33 cm Photography - 19 x 13 inch
$3,000
Zone blanche (PM11)
Palmi Marzaroli
Painting - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$1,507
I am not there
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$592
Un air d exotisme : Mahe Seychelles
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
$2,746
Vision 11
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$223
Vision 10
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$223
Vision 9
Gina Vor
Fine Art Drawings - 29.7 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$167
Mezzogiorno al Pantheon, 1 & 2, Rome
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 57 x 67 x 2 cm Photography - 22.4 x 26.4 x 0.8 inch
$2,590
N°50-22 11 (NG63)
Nicolas Galtier
Painting - 50 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$1,005
Music Notes (Party At The Moontower)
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Print - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$279
Catherine Deneuve à Venise, Italie,
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$781
Entrer dans la lumière
Dominique Jullien
Photography - 20 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$391
Tina Turner, Los Angeles
Glen Craig
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 2 inch
$1,500
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!