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Panthère strassée
François Rambaud
Sculpture - 55 x 150 x 35 cm Sculpture - 21.7 x 59.1 x 13.8 inch
$10,750
Cinematography inspired session #4
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$215
Lx008. Lisbonne Portugal
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$339
No 81 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 84 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 33.1 x 0 inch
$2,965
Regard Blanc -Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$170
Lost and Found
Théo Gosselin
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,358
Trimmed in Grace
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,900
OMO: Untitled 15
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 2
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,900
OMO: Untitled 32
Drew Doggett
Photography - 43.2 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 37
Drew Doggett
Photography - 43.2 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 44
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 9
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Warrior Embellished
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
There is a hand that protects me
On Hansen
Photography - 69 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.2 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
A rock cannot burnt to ashes
On Hansen
Photography - 69 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.2 x 39.4 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Passages #812
Nagsoul
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 100 x 3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,697 $1,358
Big wheel Osaka
Cécile Baldewyns
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.5 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.2 inch
$962
The devil is here #1
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 24 x 35 x 0.1 cm Painting - 9.4 x 13.8 x 0 inch
$215
Terra Incognita - Moonscape
Guillaume Pépy
Photography - 70 x 105 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 inch
$2,207
Marilyn Relaxes in Her Hotel Room
Ed Feingersh
Photography - 30 x 25 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.8 x 0 inch
$255
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$566
Mémoire de JingDeZhen
Feng Hatat
Photography - 32 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$566
Restaurateur de porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$679
Atelier de porcelaine II
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$679
Atelier de porcelaine I
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$679
Fours traditionnel à bois pour le porcelaine
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
$566
Symphony of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Textures of Silence
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,900
True Bearing
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Underwater Rhythm
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 19
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
OMO: Untitled 20
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Velsheda In Pursuit
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Summer Dream
Drew Doggett
Photography - 40.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Steadfast
Drew Doggett
Photography - 47.6 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Katmai's Veil
Drew Doggett
Photography - 68.6 x 45.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27 x 18 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
In Position
Drew Doggett
Photography - 32.4 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12.75 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Grands ensembles 13 2
Raynald Najosky
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$679
Mémoire de JingDeZhen Pause
Feng Hatat
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$679
Mémoire de JingDeZhen Atelier 6
Feng Hatat
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$679
Shore Break
Bernard Biancotto
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$679
Siouxie - 86 - Derniers tirages
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,829
Gainsbourg Birkin - 83 - Baby Alone - Derniers tirages
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$2,829
Rotondità 1963 (Rondeurs) - Roma
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 110 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$2,591
Darknees 1
Cécile Baldewyns
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.25 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,132
Djenné, Mali
Jean-Christophe Béchet
Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$781
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!