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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Subcategories

Black and white

Phoebe, La Barque

Haskins Posters Front Cover

Taijitu, Portrait #3

L'impératrice des tielles

Baccarat II, Paris

Zach à Caro

Les Aventures de Rin-tin-tin

Sensum

Atelier Sylvie Gaudin, African Bed

Band of love

End Of Empire, Kantharos

Un profond sommeil

Ecumes

Kaki 2

Elan

Veris

Noir et bleu

Untituled

River - Size M

Asphodel

L 1977-3

No77 SPIRIT Series

Composition

Bretagne Ocre

Rainy Day

Rolling Stones (1998)

Covers 13 - Black B

Johnny Thunders

Cheveux d'Encre - Emotion III

La tristeza

New horizons

Hombre de la Luna

A Confiança

Saudade

Une nuit pluvieuse

Ensayo

The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America, USA, 2022

Last man standing

Vincent Cassel (2000)

Toro I screenprint 2018

No 81 SPIRIT Series

Astrologie poétique II

Autoportrait II

La Confianza

Marilyn Laughing in Black Dress

Kate Coyne

Pete Doherty

Norah Jones

Mémoire de JingDeZhen

Mémoire de JingDeZhen

Tunnel

Practice What You Preach

Maisons roulantes II

Huir por las esquinas y encerrarse en los

American trails

Cloned Griffon Bruxellois With Pet Bottle

Moon

Marilyn Rare Black Dress (1962)

Farandole 4

White Hart Lane

Coluche - Iconic portraits

La femme fantasme de Tcheky Karyo

Wikro

Astrologie poétique IV

Astrologie poétique III

Astrologie poétique I