Black and white
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Birhakeim 2
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 105 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 41.3 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,478
Arc de triomphe
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,478
Alexandre III
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,478
The school kids nº3
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$625
The school kids nº2
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$625
Chilhood Mirror
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,535
Anonymous right
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,535
Anonymous Left
Darios Tossou
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.8 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0.3 inch
$1,535
Couple II - série oiseaux
Henry Ausloos
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$1,250
Appareil photo création Christer HAMP Hidalgo 1995
Christer Hamp
Photography - 30 x 21 cm Photography - 11.8 x 8.3 inch
$1,012
Steinerene Rinne, Wilder Kaiser, Nordwärts
Peter Neusser
Photography - 122 x 87 cm Photography - 48 x 34.3 inch
$3,638
The eye of the earth
Shulan Wang
Photography - 30 x 45 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,364
Have a soft dream with the moon
Shulan Wang
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,137
Being and nothingness
Shulan Wang
Photography - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$1,364
Jean-Pierre Rives
Mark Leech
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$2,217
Moonrise III
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Sol Mallorca
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Moonrise II
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 109.2 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Desvelando Gaudí 010
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$682
Desvelando Gaudí 08
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 53 x 40 cm Photography - 20.9 x 15.7 inch
$682
Valeria Mazza - Halston 1998
Anthony Horth
Photography - 29.7 x 21 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Páramo Chingaza
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Laguna Chingaza, Pigment Prints
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 91.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 36.2 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Fusagasugá, Pigment Prints
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 47 x 47 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.5 x 18.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,200
Deer Isle, Pigment Prints
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 47 x 47 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.5 x 18.5 x 0.1 inch
$900
Conscience
Cyrille Charro
Photography - 100 x 100 x 3 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$1,705 $1,194
Alcornoque Evora, Pigment Print
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
$900
Dans la machine
Muriel Deumie
Photography - 80 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$625
Reagan and the queen
Ian Bradshaw
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,478
La fille du roi de Birmanie réfugiée au Siam
The opium smoking white elephant
Photography - 60 x 40 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 inch
$909
Hide and seek
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$625
It’s nice and quiet…
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$602
Retiro in May
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$602
Pigeon monument
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$625
Steamer series 1
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 66 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 40 inch
$3,070
Maiol, Nymphs. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Daytona, Playboy Dallas I. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$602
Old man with new hat
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$625
Small talks II
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$602
Father and son
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$739
If I was your girlfriend
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$739
L'homme du passé
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$193
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!