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!

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Categories

Subcategories

Black and white

Fantaisie Romantique

Figue

El amor

No77 Spirit

Untitled - Expression no. 1

Black Roses

Queen of Flowers - Format M

The Coen Brothers (2001)

Sur le sable

Ali Patterson II

Floating memories 03

London Lovers

Digging for clams

Picasso Preside la Corrida - Frejus, 1962

Graveurs

Cooling Tour

Vin - Femme voilée - Série : Carnotzet

Quatre-vingt-dix 2

Images de Pierres

Ma tete de Mort

Dans la machine

M408

Men Legs One: From Motion Series

S/T

Portrait #1

Warrior Bride

Cubic Feet Empaquetages

Kashi

One for All, All for One

La montée des eaux

WhatEyeAm VII

Family

Agrès

Donna Summer

Self Portrait

Deux chevaux - Size L

Paris Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris 5

Tornando con le spese, Novembre 1955 - New York

Jeanne Hébuterne - Planche 114

La Gitanilla. Revelación Emporium 1947

Fashion on the Street, Paris 1963

Tracks V

100th Anniversary Celebration Coffret # 2 - Thaïland Discovery

Steve McQueen. En couple. Le script

Composition

Mick Jagger - Le poing - London - Derniers tirages

Jour de Pluie

Reprojection I

Tiepolo 1 (La Danse)

Venice

Jump

Untitled

Mainbocher Corset. Paris. Printed later

Ray Charles

Castaway

Marilyn on the Roof

Small Maelstrom (Ref 855)

Des araignées dans le grenier

Bill T. Jones

Surreal Cemetery

Butch Chanel: John, Robert and Michael, NYC

MouseBlaser

Nick Cave

Chambre #2

Andi with Rolleiflex in Yamamoto coat

Untitled, Signed Edition