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Champ de maïs
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 46 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
$1,451
Paysages forêt II
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 46 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
$1,451
Self Portrait… aka Yella v2.6 Dream Within A Dream
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 280 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 110.2 x 0.4 inch
$3,572
Journey to Kilimanjaro
Drew Doggett
Photography - 41.9 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.5 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Crossing Time
Drew Doggett
Photography - 43.8 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.25 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
The Skelligs by moonlight
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 75 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 inch
$1,243
Série : Se faire passer pour Mao
Nathalie Daoust
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$2,791
Série : Se faire passer pour Mao
Nathalie Daoust
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$2,791
Bob Marley, Beacon Theater, New York City 1976
Bob Gruen
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,500
Jackson 5 and Janet Jackson, NYC 1975
Bob Gruen
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 5.1 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 2 inch
$2,500
New Year's At Romanoff's
Slim Aarons
Photography - 40.6 x 50.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 16 x 20 x 1 inch
$5,000
Lucky For Some Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101.6 x 101.6 cm Photography - 40 x 40 inch
$3,963
NY Lights 1953 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101.6 x 101.6 cm Photography - 40 x 40 inch
$3,963
Race Meeting - 1950 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 cm Photography - 30 x 30 inch
$3,360
Luxury Dining - Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101.6 x 101.6 cm Photography - 40 x 40 inch
$3,963
NY Apartments - 1953 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 cm Photography - 30 x 30 inch
$3,360
Palm Bay Club - 1965 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
Slim Aarons
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 cm Photography - 60 x 40 inch
$3,963
Altitude 02
Hengki Koentjoro
Photography - 43 x 43 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.9 x 16.9 x 0 inch
$1,060
Dans le Ghetto, Venise
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$502
You are a story
Justin Pumfrey
Photography - 76 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 29.9 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$1,730
You Are A Story
Justin Pumfrey
Photography - 61 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$1,446
September affair
Slim Aarons
Photography - 51 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,556
Modelling for Saks Fifth Avenue
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 39.8 x 39.8 x 0 inch
$4,019
Eden Hartford
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 39.8 x 39.8 x 0 inch
$4,019
Debutante ball
Slim Aarons
Photography - 101 x 76 x 0.01 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 x 0 inch
$3,416
Saks fashion show
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 29.9 x 39.8 x 0 inch
$3,416
Last-minute adjustments
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 29.9 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$3,070
Burlington Arcade
Slim Aarons
Photography - 76 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 29.9 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$3,070
Cricketers on the Pitch
Slim Aarons
Photography - 51 x 76 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 29.9 x 0 inch
$3,070
Saks Fifth Ave
Slim Aarons
Photography - 51 x 51 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 20.1 x 0 inch
$2,556
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$167
Capoeira II. From the Rio de Janeiro series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Bottle, Belém do Pará
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
The Sorceresses
Kalliope Amorphous
Photography - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20 x 16 x 0.05 inch
$2,200
Le Roi de la baie
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 39 x 59 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.4 x 23.2 x 0.1 inch
$502
L'équilibre parfait
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 39 x 59 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.4 x 23.2 x 0.1 inch
$502
Porte de l'Enfer
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 39 x 59 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.4 x 23.2 x 0.1 inch
$502
Sainte Barbe
Philippe Grincourt
Photography - 39 x 59 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.4 x 23.2 x 0.1 inch
$502
Untitled, From the series Balance
Salvatore Arnone
Photography - 127 x 88.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 50 x 35 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Textures, White Sands
Heike Bohnstengel
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$614
Chaperon rouge illustration 1
Ghislaine Ferreira
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$558
Arcane IX- L’Hermite
Richard Laillier
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,116
Arcane IV- L’Empereur
Richard Laillier
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,116
Matrix Index 5 / Silver
Colleen Wolstenholme
Sculpture - 66 x 66 x 15 cm Sculpture - 26 x 26 x 5.9 inch
$1,786
Cheveux d'Encre Émotion
Feng Kaixuan
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$804
Lend Me Your Ear Daffy And Joyful
Arthur Steel
Photography - 48 x 61 x 1 cm Photography - 18.9 x 24 x 0.4 inch
$2,037
Gaudí 014
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 80 x 60 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 inch
$893
Sans titre 51
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 46 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 18.1 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,228
Sans titre 49
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 46 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 18.1 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,228
Femme masquée 7
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,786
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!