Black and white
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Queen / la corde cassée / La Villette / Paris
Pierre Terrasson
Photography - 40 x 50 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 inch
$1,674
Evan Dando Lemonheads
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 51 x 40 cm Photography - 20.1 x 15.7 inch
$1,976
Sans titre (9)
Julien Drogoul
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.3 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0.1 inch
$279
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
$726
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
$893
Où est Charlie ? III
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
$140
The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America, USA, 2022
JR
Print - 50 x 100 cm Print - 19.7 x 39.4 inch
$804
Opposites Attract. Diptych
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 55.9 x 188 x 0.5 cm Photography - 22 x 74 x 0.2 inch
$5,000
Cleared for Takeoff
Amrita Bilimoria
Photography - 77 x 121.9 x 0.5 cm Photography - 30.3 x 48 x 0.2 inch
$3,000
Liz Pringle Refreshments in Jamaica
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
$2,177
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
$2,177
Seaplane At Palm Beach
Slim Aarons
Photography - 41 x 41 x 0.01 cm Photography - 16.1 x 16.1 x 0 inch
$2,177
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
$726
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
$1,500
Cinematography inspired sessions #1
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$268
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
$2,233
The school kids nº1
Frederic Pasquini
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$620
Youthful Gaze
Drew Doggett
Photography - 70.5 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 27.75 x 48 x 0.1 inch
$3,750
Striped Ensemble
Drew Doggett
Photography - 72.4 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 28.5 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Gamemaker
Drew Doggett
Photography - 66.7 x 91.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 26.25 x 36 x 0.1 inch
$2,500
Old Delhi. Inde. Inde001.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$502
Old Delhi. Jama Masjid. Inde. Inde004.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$502
Old Delhi. Jama Masjid. Inde. Inde003.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.2 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.1 inch
$502
Old Delhi. Inde. Inde002.
Olivier Perrin
Photography - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
$502
Love, Light & Lines (Vol.4)
Kamal Obat
Photography - 60 x 49.8 x 2.5 cm Photography - 23.62 x 19.6 x 1 inch
$450
Elan
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
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!