Black and White Portraits

The allure of black and white. Color can articulate reality and reflect realism, but taking it away focuses on contrast and the use of monochromatic tone to set an atmosphere that draws the viewer in. This increase in impact has been harnessed by photographers since the first successful black and white images were taken by Joseph Nicephore Niepce in the early 19th century, leading to further success in 1825 when he managed to produce a black and white image of a window. Naturally colored photographs would not be developed until 1891 when Lipmann Gabriel applied the phenomenon of optical light wave interface. And yet, the black and white photograph continued, particularly in portraiture. Why? Practically, black and white photographs have a longer archival shelf-life but artistically, color isn't needed to capture the emotion, depth, expression and indeed reality through dramatic tone and contrast of the figure in front of the lens. You only need to recant Dorothea Lange's widely circulated Migrant Mother (1936) to see how a single black and white portrait can become a symbol of plight. In our works, artists like Maud Bernos and James Sparshatt favor portraits devoid of color… portraits that draw you the viewer in and leave you to fall into their enduring monochromatic depths.

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Black and White Portraits

Homme amoureux 3

portrait Enfant africain

portrait Jésus lepreux

portrait Femme accordeoniste

Portrait Femme à sac à main

Portrait Dame à la fête

Portrait Femme bleue

Portrait Fille attend l'arrivée du printemps

Portrait Contemplation Jeune moine

Portrait Nouveau né d'amour

Portrait Petit moine Ivresse du printemps

Portrait Emmanuel Macron

Portrait Homme algérien

Portrait Homme volant

Portrait Enfant méditant

Portrait Méditant

Portrait Méditant

Portrait Méditant

Portrait Enfant et mère

Jésus lepreux

Touriste

Jeune courtisane fumant

Femme Ouvrières

Peintre

Rêveuse

Femme au musée

Méditation arbre

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Thiers

Paris Concorde

Bambou

Méditation neige

Pêcheur du rêve

Trace et signe

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Rêve du rêve 14

Rêve du rêve 13

Paysage Tournesols

Chevaux Pyrénées

Pic de Gavarnie

Arbre Méditation

Arbres Méditation

Prunier

Méditation Roune Jaune

Pêcheur du rêve et son chat

Ivrogne dormant et son chat

Oiseaux

Vers la conscience bleue

Nature Oiseau

Nature Méditation Papillon rouge

Nature Méditation montagne

Nature Méditation Montagne Soleil

Nature Méditation Cyprès

Nature Caribou

Nature Fleur du ciel Coquelicot

Nature Coquelicot Fleur du ciel

Pêcheur du rêve

Nature Caribou Méditation fleur

Nature Oiseau Cercle Zen

Nature Ours blanc et joueur de flute

Nature Ours blancs et joueur de flute

Nature Oiseaux Méditation Claire de la lune