Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Save your search to find it quickly
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
Hombre de la Luna
James Sparshatt
Photography - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€595
Urban structure 2
Alessandra Bisi
Painting - 120 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
€2,350
Coluche - Iconic portraits
Arnaud Baumann
Photography - 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 35.4 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,400
Contemplation
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.02 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€1,200
Horror Vacui II, Black Doodle
Marie Julou (Tina McCallan)
Painting - 61 x 50 x 1.5 cm Painting - 24 x 19.7 x 0.6 inch
€1,000
Symphony of Light
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,583
Textures of Silence
Drew Doggett
Photography - 45.7 x 68.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 18 x 27 x 0.1 inch
€1,823
Ali Patterson II
Gerry Cranham
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€770
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
€250
Quinta de Regaleira Cintra
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
€250
Palm Light Tree
Hugo Gus Babey
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€850
Oh Lord won't you buy me...
Hugo Gus Babey
Photography - 67.4 x 120 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.5 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
€950
Last man standing
James Sparshatt
Photography - 40 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€725
Paris confinement 4
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€950
Revolutionary Woman With Brush
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Print - 61 x 46 cm Print - 24 x 18.1 inch
€1,490
Intellect
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 88.9 x 98 x 0.5 cm Photography - 35 x 38.6 x 0.2 inch
€2,878
Les architectures de l'ombre II.XXXIII (1)
Geraldine Wilcke
Photography - 60 x 90 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 1.2 inch
€2,400
Manhattan et le Brooklyn Bridge, Novembre 1955 - New York
Fabrizio La Torre
Photography - 60 x 42 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0.1 inch
€1,650
Queen / la corde cassée / La Villette / Paris
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
€1,500
Dear Irving...
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 45 x 30 x 0.02 cm Photography - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€1,200
Denpasar International Airport
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 29.7 x 42 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
€250
Temple taoiste de Man Mo
Antoine Kubler
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
€250
Lionel joue à Bacchus dans les vignes
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 24 x 36 x 0.3 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.1 inch
€650
Centauros III
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.5 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 inch
€5,277
Paris Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris 5
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 18 x 24 x 1 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
€800
Liz Pringle Refreshments in Jamaica
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€1,950
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
€1,950
Seaplane At Palm Beach
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
€1,950
Rue Mouffetard - Triptych
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 45 x 100 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.71 x 39.37 x 0.1 inch
€1,583
The old REX
Mourad Cherifi
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.02 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,350
Passereaux trépassés 6 : Fauvette à tête noire 3
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Passereaux trépassés 5 : Martinet noir
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Passereaux trépassés 4 : Fauvette à tête noire 2
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Passereaux trépassés 3 : Fauvette à tête noire
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Passereaux trépassés 2 : Sittelle
Thierry Robert
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0 inch
€380
Himba mother and child
Faie Davis
Photography - 113.6 x 81.6 x 0.25 cm Photography - 44.7 x 32.1 x 0.1 inch
€1,439
The school kids nº1
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€555
Vamos a Bailar, Polo Miniature
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 27.9 x 25.7 x 0.5 cm Photography - 11 x 10.1 x 0.2 inch
€1,055
Elan
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
€2,620
Le kiosque à journaux de New York
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 28 x 28 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11 x 11 x 0.1 inch
€650
Architectural Extract N.20 - Archi-Lines Series
Anna Levesh
Photography - 90 x 120 cm Photography - 35.4 x 47.2 inch
€990
Extrait poussière des sens F_S
Feng Kaixuan
Painting - 50 x 50 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
€2,000
Encre #1
Timothy Archer
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 8.3 x 0 inch
€850
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!