Black and White Portraits

The allure of black and white. Color can articulate reality and reflect realism, but taking it away focuses on contrast and the use of monochromatic tone to set an atmosphere that draws the viewer in. This increase in impact has been harnessed by photographers since the first successful black and white images were taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in the early 19th century, leading to further success in 1825 when he managed to produce a black and white image of a window. Naturally colored photographs would not be developed until 1891 when Lipmann Gabriel applied the phenomenon of optical light wave interface. And yet, the black and white photograph continued, particularly in portraiture. Why? Practically, black and white photographs have a longer archival shelf-life but artistically, color isn't needed to capture the emotion, depth, expression and indeed reality through dramatic tone and contrast of the figure in front of the lens. You only need to recant Dorothea Lange's widely circulated Migrant Mother (1936) to see how a single black and white portrait can become a symbol of plight. In our works, artists like Maud Bernos and James Sparshatt favor portraits devoid of color… portraits that draw you the viewer in and leave you to fall into their enduring monochromatic depths.

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Categories

Subcategories

Black and White Portraits

Frère et sœur

Chemin

Rêveuse Portrait

Guitariste musicien

Les solitaires au bar parisien

Musicien contrebassiste

Musicien contrebassiste

Musicien contrebassiste

Musicien contrebassiste

Guitariste musicien

Guitariste musicien

Garçon au masque

Saxophoniste musicien

Portrait Accordéoniste musicienne

Saxophoniste

Musiciens

Femme indienne

Grand Mère Coréenne

Golden baby

Empreinte

Cheval

Amsterdam

Méditation rêve

Portrait Rêveur

Portrait Amy Winehouse

Papa et Bébé

Gone

Center Stage

Architects Anonymous

Dans le Metro

Structural Beauty

Headlight

Light In The Dark

Center Stage

Going In Circles

Paris Sportif

Roman Traffic

Deep Breath

Architects Anonymous

Last call

Look Look

Styled

Shades of Grey

Le Havre

Hanging On

Untitled

Parfum exotique

Les deux amies

Scène galante

Untitled

Suspiro

InclusuS

Lithographie originale de Yves Brayer

IncubO

RetentiO

BestiA

DisSimuLaTiO

Small Standing Nude

Figures de ballet

AraneosuS

Elevation

DisSimuLaTiO

TEsTudiNeUS

Pulchrum foruM - Format L

TEsTudiNeUS

insituS