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Sisyphe
Arthur Di Nunzio
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.2 inch
$1,851
Les arbres royaux
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Photography - 100 x 100 x 0.1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$628
Vautour
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 42 x 29 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.5 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
$337
Crâne
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 21.5 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.5 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$314
Crâne
Lionel le Jeune
Fine Art Drawings - 22.8 x 29.7 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 9 x 11.7 x 0.1 inch
$314
Dijon, the traveler
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Corde à sauter II
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$337
Corde à sauter III
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$337
Une nuit en Espagne
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.2 inch
$393
Sans titre
Juliette Wegrzyk
Photography - 30 x 22.5 x 0.01 cm Photography - 11.8 x 8.9 x 0 inch
$729
Bells of Montalcino
Donna Carnahan
Photography - 91.4 x 121.9 x 3.8 cm Photography - 36 x 48 x 1.5 inch
$1,695
Wonderalnd : Change
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$438
Droit dans les yeux
Valentin Pacaut
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$954
Migration de zèbres
Valentin Pacaut
Photography - 50 x 75 x 0.3 cm Photography - 19.7 x 29.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,122
Corde à sauter I
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 30 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$337
Homme noir et blanc
Pascal Marlin
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 33 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 13 x 0 inch
$449
L’enfant et le soldat
José Nicolas
Photography - 40 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$337
Tramway à Lisbonne
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$449
Bernard Kouchner en Afghanistan 1984
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$449
Tchad, regard furtif
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$337
Soirée parisienne
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$337
Ecole a Grand Bassam
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$337
Anatomie 8
LN Le Cheviller
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 100 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 39.4 x 0 inch
$802
Milan, the Duomo
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Tenerife, the palm trees
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Deauville, the beach
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Prague, on Charles Bridge
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Rovinj, mirror on the Adriatic
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Rome, Trevi Fountain selfies
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Bristol, hot air balloons
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Vukovar, the railway station
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Deauville, the sea
Fabien Olart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$561
Lumiere vegetale IX
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumière végétale VIII
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumiere vegetale VII
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumière végétale VI
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumière végétale V
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumière végétale IV
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Lumière végétale III
Nicolas Le Beuan Bénic
Print - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Print - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$314
Contre courant
Jean-Guy Nakars
Photography - 40 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$729
Désertification
Romain Liverato
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$841
Wonderland : Faith I & Change
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$438
Masked Queens II
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$617
Soledad : Frida's Reflections II / Digital Collage
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 50 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$617
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
$561
006 - American Circus Paris
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$337
002- American Circus Paris
José Nicolas
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$337
Le solitaire
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Portrait de Grogu
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$393
Portrait de Grogu
Lionel le Jeune
Photography - 46 x 56 x 0.2 cm Photography - 18.1 x 22 x 0.1 inch
$393
Fantômes du désert
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Trou noir … ou blanc
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Temps suspendu
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Grande Sybille
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 6040 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 2378 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Dessin (in) animé
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
… or white ?
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Chef d’orchestre
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Clavecin architectural
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Orgues célestes version MR Hyde
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Orgues célestes
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Clocher d’Imhotep
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Black pyramids
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 40 x 60 x 2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
Dieu es-tu là ?
Guilhem Ribart
Photography - 60 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,122
In the Still of the Night in New York
Ruslana Levandovska
Painting - 40.6 x 50.8 x 1.9 cm Painting - 16 x 20 x 0.75 inch
$2,200
Bear Country
Drew Doggett
Photography - 41.9 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.5 x 27 x 0.1 inch
$1,650
Street Art/Photo Collage III
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$617
Seabirds : Connection
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$763
Seabirds : Distance
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$763
By The Sea
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$763
Earthy Delights
Ellie Sass (Sassayiannis)
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$763
Flower poem: gravity
Jihun Ju
Photography - 59.4 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$450
Rhythms of Resilience IV
Gauthier Bouret
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$841
Rhythms of Resilience II
Gauthier Bouret
Photography - 75 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 29.5 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$841
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!