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Would You Swim with Me? VI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$212
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,009
Scene of silence VIII
Jakub Pasierkiewicz
Photography - 73 x 98 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.7 x 38.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,308
Scene of silence VI
Jakub Pasierkiewicz
Photography - 73 x 98 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.7 x 38.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,308
Silent Spaceships
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
$536
Sans Titre (TAC161618)
Jérôme Garrido
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$949
Silent Soul (01)
Richard Laillier
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 10 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 3.9 x 0.4 inch
$670
Memento Mori aka ad Verbum v.11.13
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 167.98 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 66.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,233
Memento Mori aka ad Verbum v.5.21
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 168 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 66.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,233
S… like Solveig or a New Grate v.7.13
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 175 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 68.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,233
L'ombre des âges
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$179
Si ploaia miroase bine
Kuffjca Cozma
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.8 inch
$1,340
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,116
Paris se change
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$179
Super Siesta
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$179
Sombra, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Reyes, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Caracol, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Dama. Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Pregonera, Serie Pasaporte Santiago
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
La Catalina. De la serie Como antes
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 36 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,674
Serie Callejeros musicales 2
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,340
Dans le Metro
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,009
Souvenir lointain de son parfum
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$134
Jean Shrimpton In Mary Quant
John French
Photography - 152.4 x 101.6 cm Photography - 60 x 40 inch
$1,434
Force sauvage I
Pierre Le Preux
Painting - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$3,014
L'aube de la première descente
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$212
Encre #5
Timothy Archer
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$949
Langage des mains 2
Jean-Claude Mathier
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,121
Luna Toscana
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$435
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$279
Water Wheels, China. Silver gelatin print
Monica Denevan
Photography - 38 x 38 cm Photography - 15 x 15 inch
$1,040
Fantastique noir et blanc n°18
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$301
Fantastique noir et blanc n°1
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$301
Fantastique noir et blanc n°9
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$301
Écorce, portrait I
Yoann Merienne
Painting - 200 x 150 x 3 cm Painting - 78.7 x 59.1 x 1.2 inch
$13,395
Almost
Jinny Yu
Fine Art Drawings - 152 x 122 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 59.8 x 48 x 1.2 inch
$13,600
Dudley Moore & Peter Cook – London
David Steen
Photography - 61 x 46 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 18.1 x 0 inch
$1,540
Elizabeth Taylor – Elstree Studios, England
David Steen
Photography - 46 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$1,540
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!