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Antonio Banderas. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Jamie Dornan, B&W Portrait intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Untitled III. Photography intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Rossy de Palma. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 107 x 83 x 0.3 cm Photography - 42.1 x 32.7 x 0.1 inch
$5,000
Notre-Dame de Paris
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 18 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.1 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$874
Les ponts de la Seine
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 31 x 18.5 cm Photography - 12.2 x 7.3 inch
$874
Tulipes en black and white
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$874
Bouquet blanc
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 21 x 33 x 0.2 cm Photography - 8.3 x 13 x 0.1 inch
$874
À travers l'horloge
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$874
Poisson d'argent
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 57 x 38 x 0.2 cm Photography - 22.4 x 15 x 0.1 inch
$1,513
Becs de Perroquets
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 36.9 x 24.6 x 0.2 cm Photography - 14.5 x 9.7 x 0.1 inch
$841
Bouquet de Gypsophiles
Anne-Marie Toporkoff
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$1,099
The school in Storbyn
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 89 x 116 cm Fine Art Drawings - 35 x 45.7 inch
$3,475
Manifest 2
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 53.34 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 40 inch
$2,585
À la table des grands
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 81 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 31.9 inch
$2,410
Escena interior. Solstickan
Miquel Wert
Fine Art Drawings - 81 x 116 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 31.9 x 45.7 x 0.8 inch
$2,803
Bruma Portfolio
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 35.6 x 27.9 x 5.1 cm Photography - 14 x 11 x 2 inch
$3,000
Marguerite Duras
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$280
Crop Margaret Thatcher Decorating Ironing Lady
Arthur Steel
Photography - 61 x 48 x 1 cm Photography - 24 x 18.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,046
Nature Frame
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 101.6 x 101.6 x 0.25 cm Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 inch
$1,065
Wings of Life
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 66.04 x 99.06 x 0.25 cm Photography - 26 x 39 x 0.1 inch
$897
A Hard-Working Great Egret
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 76.2 x 76.2 x 0.25 cm Photography - 30 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$785
Wings of the Sky
Fenqiang Liu Photography
Photography - 60.96 x 76.2 x 0.25 cm Photography - 24 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$673
Charles Aznavour
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$774
Arielle Dombasle
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$774
Benjamin Biolay
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 60 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$774
Fernandel / Paris Match
Walter Carone
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0 inch
$1,794
Montand, Signoret / Paris Match
Walter Carone
Photography - 53 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,242
Le coût de la panne
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 33 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 13 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$774
Ferrari Side – Franck Leclerc
Franck Leclerc
Photography - 40 x 33 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 13 x 0.4 inch
$774
Untitled (DEC355458)
Katsuko Kuroya
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 11.8 inch
$179
Wakako, Photograph intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 44.5 x 54.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.5 x 21.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Une nuit à Malabar
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
$2,758
A Boy with a Sled, Winter
Alexander Sviyazov
Sculpture - 45 x 18.3 x 11.5 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 7.2 x 4.5 inch
$5,045
Miles Davis "It's About Time", Fillmore East, NYC, June 18, 1970
Glen Craig
Photography - 45.7 x 104.1 x 5.1 cm Photography - 18 x 41 x 2 inch
$3,550
Sans titre (Un jour, une photo)
Aline Part
Photography - 67 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$561
Sans titre (Un jour, une photo)
Aline Part
Photography - 67 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$561
Fluidity of a woman IV
Katya Taneva
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.2 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,857
Cyclos y Renacimientos
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
Don Ricardo
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
Doña Martha
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
El Sueño de la China
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
Fiestas y Sueños
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
Generaciones y Creencias
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,458
Invitation to Heavens, Slovenia
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 90 x 60 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 inch
$561
The Walker and his Mule, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 50.4 x 90 cm Photography - 19.8 x 35.4 inch
$561
The Pontoon, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$561
The call of the air 02, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$561
The call of water
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$561
Alcalin B&W, Ballestas Islands, Peru
Nathan Soulez-Larivière
Photography - 60 x 90 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 inch
$561
Nick Cave Portrait
Detlev Schneider
Photography - 111 x 90 x 1 cm Photography - 43.7 x 35.4 x 0.4 inch
$5,269
Carolyn Murphy, Portrait Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 47 x 31.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18.5 x 12.5 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Untitled 18
Ghylan Safadi
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 75 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 29.5 inch
$2,200
Principios de la Hospitalidad II
Isabel Herrera
Photography - 38.1 x 38.1 x 1 cm Photography - 15 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$1,962
Principios de la Hospitalidad I
Isabel Herrera
Photography - 38.1 x 38.1 x 1 cm Photography - 15 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$1,962
Sci sull'acqua Venezia
Vittorio Pavan
Photography - 50 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$729
There is a Place where everything dissolves. Tanger, Morocco 2023
Tina Smeraldi
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
$1,962
Evasione Solitaria. Solo Escaping. Ireland
Tina Smeraldi
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
$1,962
Milan, the tramway
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Michael Jackson XV
David Nutter
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,550
Michael Jackson XIV
David Nutter
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,550
Michael Jackson XIII
David Nutter
Photography - 50.8 x 61 x 5.1 cm Photography - 20 x 24 x 2 inch
$2,550
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!