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Robert Plant et Jimmy Page
Jean-Pierre Roux
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
$1,125
Mick Jagger et Keith Richards
Jean-Pierre Roux
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
$2,262
Altitude 02
Hengki Koentjoro
Photography - 43 x 43 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.9 x 16.9 x 0 inch
$1,080
Personnage en colère
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 14 x 23 cm Fine Art Drawings - 5.5 x 9.1 inch
$1,250
Métamorphose d’un Roi
Chahrazed Fekih
Photography - 12.5 x 18 x 0.2 cm Photography - 4.9 x 7.1 x 0.1 inch
$568
Dudley Moore & Peter Cook – London
David Steen
Photography - 61 x 46 x 0.01 cm Photography - 24 x 18.1 x 0 inch
$1,569
Elizabeth Taylor – Elstree Studios, England
David Steen
Photography - 46 x 61 x 0.01 cm Photography - 18.1 x 24 x 0 inch
$1,569
Arabesque
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,978
An Island in the air
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 20 x 47 x 0.3 cm Photography - 7.9 x 18.5 x 0.1 inch
$568
An Island in the Air
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$568
Eternel Retour
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 60 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$614
Murs d'equilibrisme
Bel Mur
Painting - 119.9 x 119.9 x 0.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0.2 inch
$3,247
On the moon 13 - série portraits de femmes (1)
Stéphane Vereecken
Photography - 40 x 30 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.8 inch
$784
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$171
Francisco
Valérie Abadie
Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 20 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 7.9 x 0.1 inch
$1,819
L'annonciation (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$853
Retour au centre (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$853
Blanc Marais
Yves Bordes Lapeyre
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$648
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie (1) (7)
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$284
Otoño en Tailandia
Alejandra Leon
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,600
You are a story
Justin Pumfrey
Photography - 151 x 101 x 0.01 cm Photography - 59.4 x 39.8 x 0 inch
$3,177
Soft With Scars
Justin Pumfrey
Photography - 41 x 30 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$529
California poppy
Justin Pumfrey
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.01 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$529
Urbain brutalisme - Photographie digigraphie (1) (1)
Claire Giraudeau
Photography - 70 x 50 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 inch
$284
Otoño en Buenos Aires
Alejandra Leon
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,600
S/T Serie Del zaguán de Fico al patio de Matilde (4)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
S/T Serie Del zaguán de Fico al patio de Matilde (3)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 32 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
S/T Serie Del zaguán de Fico al patio de Matilde (2)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
S/T Serie Del zaguán de Fico al patio de Matilde (1)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
S/T. Serie, La Habana 500 detalles (4)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 16 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,250
S/T. Serie, La Habana 500 detalles (3)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 16 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,250
S/T. Serie, Habana 500 detalles (2)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 16 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,250
S/T. Serie, Habana 500 detalles (1)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 16 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,250
S/T de la Serie Callejeros musicales (4)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 32 x 24 x 2 cm Photography - 12.6 x 9.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
S/T de la Serie Callejeros musicales (3)
Sonia Almaguer
Photography - 24 x 32 x 2 cm Photography - 9.4 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,364
Jean-Paul Belmondo à Venise, Italie
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$909
Black Sea#1
Fabian Albertini
Photography - 140 x 110 x 3 cm Photography - 55.1 x 43.3 x 1.2 inch
$8,185
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!