Black and white
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HB1424 – Collection purity
Idan Wizen
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$2,009
H0404 - The insurgent
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,340
F0496 - The doll
Idan Wizen
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,009
F0480 - The antidepressant
Idan Wizen
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$2,009
Libido and Mortido, Portrait #47
George Mayer
Photography - 100 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 39.37 x 27.55 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Looking at prints
Tony Potts
Photography - 40.6 x 55.9 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16 x 22 x 0 inch
$1,900
Underbreast Covered
Tony Potts
Photography - 40.6 x 55.9 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16 x 22 x 0 inch
$1,900
La Casa de Daniel
Paola Dávila
Photography - 22.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm Photography - 9 x 8 x 1 inch
$1,200
Kate Moss Venice Beach III
Christoph Martin Schmid
Photography - 44 x 33 cm Photography - 17.3 x 13 inch
$893
Femmes et leurs gros bébés
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$781
Ouverture
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,925
La Pousse
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
L'onde
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
Jeanne Hébuterne - Planche 44 & 45
Nadine Van Der Straeten
Print - 42 x 59.4 x 1 cm Print - 16.5 x 23.4 x 0.4 inch
$659
Jeanne Hébuterne - Planche 126 & 127
Nadine Van Der Straeten
Print - 42 x 59.4 x 1 cm Print - 16.5 x 23.4 x 0.4 inch
$659
Act 6 | Home office
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$279
Sisyphe (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$837
Fairy under glass
Hollie Miller
Photography - 31.7 x 47.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 12.5 x 18.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,060
Sisyphus
Hollie Miller
Photography - 47.5 x 32.5 x 0.2 cm Photography - 18.7 x 12.8 x 0.1 inch
$1,228
No man's land
Rossella Mercedes
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$313
Danse I
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 80 x 100 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 39.4 x 0.4 inch
$2,791 $2,512
Giant's Dust
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 67 x 89 x 3 cm Photography - 26.4 x 35 x 1.2 inch
$3,349
Sharing Nature
Cheraine Collette
Photography - 67 x 89 x 2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 35 x 0.8 inch
$3,347
Form elegance
Dmitry Savchenko
Photography - 150 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$1,663
Bridge of sighs. Barcelona
Dmitry Savchenko
Photography - 66 x 46 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 18.1 x 0.4 inch
$1,663
Santa María (Sillón)
Paola Dávila
Photography - 22.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm Photography - 9 x 8 x 1 inch
$1,200
Santa María (Baño)
Paola Dávila
Photography - 22.9 x 20.3 x 2.5 cm Photography - 9 x 8 x 1 inch
$1,200
Deux bouches femmes
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 28 x 42 x 1 cm Photography - 11 x 16.5 x 0.4 inch
$781
No24 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
No58 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 150 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 59.1 x 0 inch
$4,577
Three Graces
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 90 x 90 x 3 cm Photography - 35.4 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$3,293
Saltan Maroc
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 45 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$781
Nuque homme
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$781
No16 Spirit Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
Jeune Nuit
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
No55 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 96 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 37.8 x 0 inch
$2,925
No36 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
No45 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
la légèreté
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,925
No47 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 96 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 37.8 x 0 inch
$2,925
l' amie
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
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!