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Motel Bathroom 2
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$729
Motel Bathroom 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$729
Gone with the Wind
Lesya Rozova
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$757
Udo could have been a woman like the others
Udo Roosen
Photography - 60 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,346
The Ant Anthony Fawcett
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
$3,029
Stonehenge Model
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
$3,029
Irida XIII
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Roarie XXVI
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Man against Wall, One
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Man Curve Four: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled 2: from the Blanco Series. Archival Pigment print, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Act 11 | Best hotel in town
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 10 | A glass of champagne
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 8 | Peak Climax - all tricks allowed
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 7 | The things we would do for an espresso
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 5 | S-extremely thirsty
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 4 | It all came out in the wash
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Act 12 | Boarding complete
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$280
Satyr, Drawing Restraint 7, Matthew Barney studio, NYC
Michael James O'Brien
Photography - 61 x 43.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 17 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Matthew Barney, Cremaster 5, Gellert Bath House, Budapest
Michael James O'Brien
Photography - 61 x 43.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 24 x 17 x 0.1 inch
$4,000
Untitled, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en red
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Caballero. From The series Horse and Dancer
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Cerro de Hombres
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
A memory of an unfullfilled love
Alex Manchev
Print - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$325
In Silk We Trust!
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 56 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 22 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$213
Would you swim with me? XV
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$213
Would you swim with me? XIV
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$213
Black and white on skate
Themanfromthefuture Urano
Painting - 105 x 33 x 0.1 cm Painting - 41.3 x 13 x 0 inch
$438
No40 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 3 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 1.2 inch
$5,890
Angel IX
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Nikita III
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Metaphysical Body Landscape #14
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 34 cm Photography - 11.8 x 13.4 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #37
Anna Laza
Photography - 35 x 53 cm Photography - 13.8 x 20.9 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #9
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 60 cm Photography - 11.8 x 23.6 inch
$639
Metaphysical Body Landscape #15
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #3
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 55 cm Photography - 11.8 x 21.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #39
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 50 cm Photography - 11.8 x 19.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #8
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 45 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #7
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #19
Anna Laza
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #17
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 40 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #12
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 42 cm Photography - 11.8 x 16.5 inch
$572
Metaphysical Body Landscape #72
Anna Laza
Photography - 30 x 55 cm Photography - 11.8 x 21.7 inch
$572
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!