Black and white
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Personnage au discours fumeux
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 19 x 24 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.5 x 9.4 inch
$1,395
Steamer series 1
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 66 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 40 inch
$3,009
It’s nice and quiet…
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$592
Retiro in May
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$592
Maiol, Nymphs. Photograph intervened by the artists.
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 29.5 x 21.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.6 x 8.5 x 0.1 inch
$1,080
Cinematography inspired session #25
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$212
Midday Spécial
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.04 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$726
Rue des Martyrs
Mathieu Dussaucy
Painting - 120 x 120 x 2.5 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1 inch
$1,674
Où est Charlie ? V
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
$140
Tipping Point #7
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 137.16 x 91.44 cm Fine Art Drawings - 54 x 36 inch
$5,561
Paris Notre Dame Cathédrale de Paris II
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 24 x 18 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 7.1 x 0.4 inch
$893
Paris Notre Dame Cathédrale de Paris
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 24 x 18 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 7.1 x 0.4 inch
$893
Abstract Desert Reflections n°308
Harry James Moody
Painting - 121.9 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 48 x 60 x 2 inch
$11,500
Personnage en colère
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 14 x 23 cm Fine Art Drawings - 5.5 x 9.1 inch
$1,228
Le Bar Fer à Cheval
Carlo Maiolini
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,730
Le Bistrot du Coin
Carlo Maiolini
Painting - 80 x 80 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0.8 inch
$1,842
1915 Femme brune Brunette
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,619
1915 Bacchus
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,619
Les marches - Japon
Brno Del Zou
Photography - 59 x 120 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.2 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
$949
SJWMN//JP#09 (Still just writing my name // Japan)
Patrick Hartl
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,786
Cinematography inspired session #14
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$212
Cinematography inspired session #11
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$212
Pêcheur matinal sur les épis de Loire
Dominique Jullien
Photography - 30 x 40 x 2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
$335
Les piplettes
Dominique Jullien
Photography - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
$335
Sans Titre (TAC161618)
Jérôme Garrido
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$949
Silent Soul (01)
Richard Laillier
Fine Art Drawings - 18 x 10 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.1 x 3.9 x 0.4 inch
$670
Memento Mori aka ad Verbum v.5.21
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 168 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 66.1 x 0.4 inch
$2,233
S… like Solveig or a New Grate v.7.13
LosOtros Mj Tom
Painting - 100 x 175 x 1 cm Painting - 39.4 x 68.9 x 0.4 inch
$2,233
Scene of silence VI
Jakub Pasierkiewicz
Photography - 73 x 98 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.7 x 38.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,308
Encre #5
Timothy Archer
Fine Art Drawings - 28 x 21 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11 x 8.3 x 0 inch
$949
Fantastique noir et blanc n°18
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$301
Fantastique noir et blanc n°9
François Lork
Print - 29.7 x 21 x 1 cm Print - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$301
Forest in Laski
Maka Cielecka
Fine Art Drawings - 35 x 100 cm Fine Art Drawings - 13.8 x 39.4 inch
$1,340
In front of the house
Maka Cielecka
Fine Art Drawings - 55 x 83 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.7 x 32.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,451
1911 Maison de campagne Country house
Eugène Druet
Photography - 43 x 54 cm Photography - 16.9 x 21.3 inch
$1,619
1915 Escalier du village Village Stairs
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 inch
$1,953
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!