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Urban structure 2
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 120 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$2,671
On Top
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 8.847 x 10.752 x 0.2 cm Photography - 3.5 x 4.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,705
Savant N.2 - Reflects & Transparencies Series
Anna Levesh
Photography - 78.5 x 50 cm Photography - 30.9 x 19.7 inch
$898
La montée des eaux
Fabienne Cresens
Photography - 40 x 40 x 4 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 1.6 inch
$568
Marilyn in Vogue (1962)
Bert Stern
Photography - 25 x 21 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$1,807
Nailed it Series No.83
Sumit Mehndiratta
Sculpture - 64 x 64 x 4 cm Sculpture - 25.2 x 25.2 x 1.6 inch
$966
El Revolucionario
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,061
Elan
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
El caballero
James Sparshatt
Photography - 35 x 35 x 1 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,061
Hombre de la Luna
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$676
New York City lanscape
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 35 x 35 x 0.2 cm Photography - 13.8 x 13.8 x 0.1 inch
$1,137
Horror Vacui II, Black Doodle
Marie Julou (Tina McCallan)
Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
$1,137
L’Ancienne Messe
Michaël Brack
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 37 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 14.6 inch
$682
La Grand Prêtre
Michaël Brack
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 inch
$682
Rushing Waters
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,900
Revolutionary Woman With Brush
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 61 x 46 cm Print - 24 x 18.1 inch
$1,694
Lisbonne. Portugal. Lx089.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$341
Inde005. Agra. Taj Mahal. Inde.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$341
Veris
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
Ali Patterson II
Gerry Cranham
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$875
Last man standing
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$794
Graphisme d'arbre
Mathieu Pujol
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$966
Paris confinement 4
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,080 $972
Talisman in Red
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 76.2 x 53.3 x 0.5 cm Photography - 30 x 21 x 0.2 inch
$2,500
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$284
Quinta de Regaleira Cintra
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$284
Les architectures de l'ombre II.XXXIII (1)
Geraldine Wilcke
Photography - 60 x 90 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,728
Queen / la corde cassée / La Villette / Paris
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$1,705
The Silent Language
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 45.7 x 32 x 0.5 cm Photography - 18 x 12.6 x 0.2 inch
$1,600
Dear Irving...
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.02 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$1,364
Palm Light Tree
Hugo Gus Babey
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$966
Oh Lord won't you buy me...
Hugo Gus Babey
Photography - 67.4 x 120 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.5 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Lionel joue à Bacchus dans les vignes
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.3 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.1 inch
$739
Paris Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris 5
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 18 x 24 x 1 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
$909
Rue Mouffetard - Triptych
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 45 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.71 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
The pigeon man
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,535
The old REX
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,535
Denpasar International Airport
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$284
Temple taoiste de Man Mo
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$284
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!