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!
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A l'ombre d'un regard
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€160
A travers les vents
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€160
Lost Village_12
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 100 x 72 x 3.5 cm Photography - 39.4 x 28.3 x 1.4 inch
€1,200
Spirit of Forest 23572352
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 35.6 x 29.3 x 3.5 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 1.4 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 3246542
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 35.6 x 29.3 x 3.5 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 1.4 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 324654
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 35.6 x 29.3 x 3.5 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 1.4 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 324654_2
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 35.6 x 29.3 x 3.5 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 1.4 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 203900
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 35.6 x 29.3 x 3.5 cm Photography - 14 x 11.5 x 1.4 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 87150
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 12630
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 8412
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 7100
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 7090
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 4642
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 4629
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 3990
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2041
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2040
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2037
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2035
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2031
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2029
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2023
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2021
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 2005
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 865
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 718
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 700
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 404
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 212
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 49
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Spirit of Forest 22
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 40.8 x 28.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 16.1 x 11.4 x 0.1 inch
€1,600
Fosse 10 de Courrieres Lens
Willy Ronis
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
€2,400
Bluesman on Beale
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€825
Baiser noir et blanc
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 120 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€2,900
Karl Largerfield soirée Kenzo
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
€2,900
Andi with Leica M 3 and Yamamoto coat
Oliver Hadji
Photography - 30 x 30 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
€500
L'homme du passé
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€160
Fickle Memory 02
Yasuo Kiyonaga
Photography - 100 x 70 x 3 cm Photography - 39.4 x 27.6 x 1.2 inch
€500
Élément jaune (PM15)
Palmi Marzaroli
Painting - 49 x 63 x 0.2 cm Painting - 19.3 x 24.8 x 0.1 inch
€2,300
Zone blanche (PM11)
Palmi Marzaroli
Painting - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Painting - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
€1,350
Florence Pritchett Smith
Slim Aarons
Photography - 51 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 20.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€2,850
Liz Pringle Refreshments in Jamaica
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€2,850
Jean Patchett for Saks Fifth Avenue
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€2,850
Seaplane At Palm Beach
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€2,850
Lévitation Effect 003
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€610