Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Dior Paris
Bart Van Leeuwen
Photography - 88.9 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm Photography - 35 x 30 x 2 inch
$2,000
Paris - Passage de la Voûte
Vladimir Bazan
Photography - 49 x 38 x 1 cm Photography - 19.3 x 15 x 0.4 inch
$629
Cardiff by night
Jodi Bieber
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,495
Le chaos est une structure
Philippe Piccardi
Photography - 60 x 60 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 inch
$197
Gaia sphère
Patrick Lamouroux
Sculpture - 98 x 48 x 48 cm Sculpture - 38.6 x 18.9 x 18.9 inch
$4,944
Andy Warhol with Boxes, 1964
Ken Heyman
Photography - 35.6 x 29.2 x 1.3 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 0.5 inch
$4,800
Circumambulate. The Doldrums, from the series "SPAR/CUBA"
Paul Meleschnig
Photography - 30.5 x 20.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 12 x 8 x 0.1 inch
$1,500
Mont moderne
Aurélien Desbois
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 30 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 11.8 inch
$562
Yosemite National Park. USA on the road
Tina Smeraldi
Photography - 40 x 60 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 inch
$1,966
Senza titolo
Elio Marcucci
Fine Art Drawings - 25 x 30 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$371
Serie "Les sacrés" Sacré vent!
Anthony Godet
Photography - 47 x 50 cm Photography - 18.5 x 19.7 inch
$1,000
Lewis / Paris Match
Philippe Le Tellier
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,798
Frank Zappa, Fillmore East, NYC, 1968
Elliott Landy
Photography - 45.5 x 61 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.9 x 24 x 0 inch
$1,124
Lichtmalerei 180.18.2003
Karl-Martin Holzhäuser
Photography - 133 x 133 x 5 cm Photography - 52.4 x 52.4 x 2 inch
$35,958
Ying Yang
Alex Pariss
Fine Art Drawings - 140 x 110 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 55.1 x 43.3 x 0.4 inch
$1,124
La Nageuse - Série Clope
Johan Desma
Photography - 80 x 120 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 inch
$2,124
Homeland
Anet Duncan
Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 21 x 7 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.2 x 8.3 x 2.8 inch
$764
Photographie de John Steinbeck
Roy Schatt
Photography - 24 x 23 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 9.1 x 0.4 inch
$775
The music inside
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 140 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 41.3 x 0 inch
$3,400
Tre Archi_09_2021
Serena Zeppilli
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$674
Voir les yeux fermés - sans titre #19
Fabrice Domenet
Photography - 30 x 30 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 inch
$1,236
3K Project - Untitled N° 07
Steeve Bauras
Photography - 80 x 53 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 1.6 inch
$2,247
Secret Invasion
Lenil Yu
Fine Art Drawings - 44 x 28 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 17.3 x 11 x 0.4 inch
$2,922
Tenerife, Anaga Forest
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$562
Adriana Rayén
Diego Echevers Torrez
Photography - 33 x 33 x 0.1 cm Photography - 13 x 13 x 0 inch
$1,439
White Type E
Cédric Marcadier
Photography - 60 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$1,236
''Gunina''en Givenchy, Paris le 5 Août 1955 Elle Magazine
Georges Dambier
Photography - 74 x 68 x 2 cm Photography - 29.1 x 26.8 x 0.8 inch
$3,933
Wicked Game | Ponza, Italy
Serge Guerand
Photography - 53 x 80 cm Photography - 20.9 x 31.5 inch
$2,225
Sin título (Prayer Flags Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Sculpture - 45 x 52 x 0.5 cm Sculpture - 17.7 x 20.5 x 0.2 inch
$248
Keanu Reeves Signed Limited Edition Photograph
Markus Klinko
Painting - 61 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Painting - 24 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$4,400
Children of Bafmeng / Their life-Cameroon
Gilbert Ryu
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$843
Les marches du Louvre #01
Hannaka
Photography - 32 x 26 x 1 cm Photography - 12.6 x 10.2 x 0.4 inch
$663
Belmondo / Paris Match (1)
Gragnon François
Photography - 75 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,247
Temporality 1
Edin Mustafic
Photography - 51 x 37.5 x 1.5 cm Photography - 20.1 x 14.8 x 0.6 inch
$674
Servitude, Tome 3, Planche 31
Eric Bourgier
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 47 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 18.5 inch
$4,495
1 - La descente de Persephone
Mita Vostok
Photography - 60 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$899
Looking for balance
Danielle Mano Bella
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,686
Dietrich / Paris Match
Paul Slade
Photography - 80 x 53 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 20.9 x 0 inch
$1,798
Guerre d'Algérie, 1962
Maurice Jarnoux
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$674
Kelly, Aumont / Paris Match
Jack Garofalo & Michou Simon
Photography - 55 x 55 x 0.1 cm Photography - 21.7 x 21.7 x 0 inch
$1,798
Lis Lève toi et Marche
Olivier Rebecq
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$652
Elliptic, recherche n°7
Clémentine Chambon
Fine Art Drawings - 40.8 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.1 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$787
Charito Zarate Torino
Ryan Arbilo
Photography - 50 x 70 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.4 inch
$899
Chanel Haute Couture
Bruno Bisang
Photography - 80 x 60 x 4 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.6 inch
$4,495
Serie Vera y Victoria
Mar Sáez
Photography - 48 x 68 x 3 cm Photography - 18.9 x 26.8 x 1.2 inch
$674
... C’est Naturel !
Chahrazed Fekih
Photography - 20 x 10 x 0.2 cm Photography - 7.9 x 3.9 x 0.1 inch
$562
El templo de santa Barbara
Justo Pastor Acea Gomez
Painting - 67 x 95 cm Painting - 26.4 x 37.4 inch
$1,348
Ours au poisson
Jean-Michel Chesné
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 50 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$955
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!