Black and white
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Bright Night 2
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$726
Women not Allowed
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$726
Mia Villiers-Farrow on a bed
Diane Arbus
Photography - 35.56 x 35.56 cm Photography - 14 x 14 inch
$18,419
Marilyn Monroe (1962) Orgasm
Bert Stern
Photography - 33 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,470
Bettie Page Clutching Robe
Bunny Yeager
Photography - 61 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Série Lignes Blanches, A
Stefan Hoareau
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
$4,353
Anne
Philippe Pasqua
Fine Art Drawings - 240 x 150 x 10 cm Fine Art Drawings - 94.5 x 59.1 x 3.9 inch
$18,977
Marilyn Monroe 1962. New baby in silver
Bert Stern
Photography - 33 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$5,470
L'esclave mourant de Michel-Ange
Yazid Oulab
Painting - 207 x 154.3 cm Painting - 81.5 x 60.7 inch
$22,325
Inside
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,647
Euphoria
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 61 x 92 x 0.1 cm Photography - 24 x 36.2 x 0 inch
$1,647
Oblivion. Hidden identity.
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 50 x 60 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 inch
$837
Sans titre - 19
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 46 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
$1,451
Homme nu sur la plage II
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,116
No55 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 72 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 28.3 x 0 inch
$1,647
No83 Spirit Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 67 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 26.4 x 0 inch
$1,647
Jeune nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 91 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.8 x 35.8 x 0 inch
$1,647
Light Slide
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,647
Allure
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,647
Angelique 3
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,647
Eruptio
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,647
No58 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 72 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography - 28.3 x 35.8 x 0 inch
$1,647
Carla Bruni Sarkozy, Harper's Bazaar
Philippe Robert
Photography - 100 x 75 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 inch
$8,930
Seeds IV, From the Desert Flower series
Guilherme Licurgo
Photography - 88.9 x 58.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35 x 23 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Do it yourself, France.
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$1,900
Secret Album VIII, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Secret Album VI, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Secret Album V, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Secret Album III, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Secret Album II, Paris
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Secret Album I, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
Skindo travesti
Pierre Molinier
Photography - 13 x 9 x 1 cm Photography - 5.1 x 3.5 x 0.4 inch
$1,674
ELLE Photographie volée /
Didier Cormillot
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
$301
Rendille Moran at Nyiru
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,635
Fenêtre sur elle
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 80 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$882
Apple on Sill with Diagonal Shadow
Sam Haskins
Photography - 30.5 x 40.3 cm Photography - 12 x 15.86 inch
$9,400
Guerre froide
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 37 x 37 x 1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 14.6 x 0.4 inch
$2,009
Secret Album VII, Paris, 2015
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$2,000
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!