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Angelique
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 61 x 91 x 0.1 cm Photography - 24 x 35.8 x 0 inch
$1,647
No57 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 91.4 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$1,647
Marche des Méréides
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 91 x 68 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.8 x 26.8 x 0 inch
$1,647
Nu (série, croquis)
Kitty Sabatier
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$614
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
Climbing II, Paris
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 37 x 30 x 0.3 cm Photography - 14.6 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$1,900
Initiation d'une reine"Ayaba"
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$2,065
Fire of the Himba
John Kenny
Photography - 67 x 45 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,040
Jeune Nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 70 x 70 x 2.5 cm Photography - 27.6 x 27.6 x 1 inch
$1,987
Approach
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 96 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 37.8 x 0 inch
$2,925
Eve With The Golden Apple
Kirill Postovit
Fine Art Drawings - 90 x 61 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35.4 x 24 x 0 inch
$558
Let There Be Light! #1
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Ambre au ballon
Arnaud Ele
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$391
Sans titre
Ayako David Kawauchi
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 x 1.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.6 inch
$1,005
Black Angel Standing
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 22 x 22 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,060
Guerrière avec boule à paillettes
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 22 x 22 x 1 cm Photography - 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,060
Guerrière radiographiée
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,060
Guerrière courbée
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,005
Let There Be Light! #10
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Temptation (Tentation)
Laura Makabresku
Photography - 40 x 40 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 inch
$865
The picture of emotions and other ailments of a sensitive human XI
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 50 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$837
2050-69
Van de Camp & Heesterbeek
Photography - 100 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$3,907
Let There Be Light #20
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light #19
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light #18
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #17
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light #16
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #15
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #12
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #9
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #8
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #7
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #6
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Let There Be Light! #3
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$212
Nu (série, croquis)
Kitty Sabatier
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$614
Fabrice Emaer et les bodybuilders
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,060
Danse des lasers
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$1,060
Façon Marilyn
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,060
Indian Autumn 2
Lukas Dvorak
Photography - 59.4 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$1,898
Sára + dívka (Sarah and girl)
Jan Saudek
Photography - 17.9 x 13.9 cm Photography - 7 x 5.5 inch
$1,674
Blanc et noir (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 35 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$837
Arolla (Suisse)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$837
Née de la Vague
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 50 x 32 x 0.05 cm Photography - 19.7 x 12.6 x 0 inch
$3,907
Obra del Grupo Danza del Alma, Cuba
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 32 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,340
Oblivion. Hidden identity.
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 50 x 60 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 inch
$837
Couple femmes
Claude Guillaumin
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,842
The picture of emotions and other ailments of a sensitive human XVII
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 50 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$837
The picture of emotions and other ailments of a sensitive human III
Joanna Chudy
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$837
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!