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L'annonciation (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$848
Retour au centre (Islande)
Vincent Citot
Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$848
La série : Orogenèse - Jackson
Joan Fontcuberta
Photography - 75 x 100 cm Photography - 29.5 x 39.4 inch
$11,309
Marie Hélène chez Maxim's
Pierre Boulat
Photography - 40 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$961
Place Vendôme
Vanessa Vercel
Photography - 70 x 105 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 41.3 x 0.8 inch
$1,470
Alcornoque Evora, Pigment Print
Miguel Winograd
Photography - 110 x 110 x 0.3 cm Photography - 43.3 x 43.3 x 0.1 inch
$900
Reagan and the queen
Ian Bradshaw
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$1,470
Lévitation Effect 003
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$690
Hide and seek
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$622
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
$599
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
Daytona, Playboy Dallas I. 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
Demain, mon rêve d'aujourd'hui, Paris
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 50 x 45 cm Photography - 19.7 x 17.7 inch
$622
Gypsy - L'Ombre de Toi - Meme, Paris
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 80 x 80 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 inch
$1,029
Miles Davis le célèbre trompettiste en concert, Paris Jazz Festival, 3 novembre 1969. - série Jazz
Philippe Gras
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,074
Big Melt #10
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 134.62 x 91.44 cm Fine Art Drawings - 53 x 36 inch
$5,625
Tipping Point #5
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 137.16 x 91.44 cm Fine Art Drawings - 54 x 36 inch
$5,625
Tipping Point #7
Jaanika Peerna
Fine Art Drawings - 137.16 x 91.44 cm Fine Art Drawings - 54 x 36 inch
$5,625
L'abreuvoir d'Eiffel
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$136
Contemplum #012
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
$735
Contemplum #010
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 33 x 50 x 0.03 cm Photography - 13 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$961
The wild coast
Andrew Lever
Photography - 101.6 x 152.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 inch
$951
Personnage au discours fumeux
Georges Bru
Fine Art Drawings - 19 x 24 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.5 x 9.4 inch
$1,414
Paris bateaux mouches
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 18 x 24 x 1 cm Photography - 7.1 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
$905
Paris Moulin Rouge
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 24 x 18 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 7.1 x 0.4 inch
$905
Paris Tour Eiffel 2
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 28 x 24 x 1 cm Photography - 11 x 9.4 x 0.4 inch
$961
Magnetic Radiation 14 (Large)
Seb Janiak
Photography - 160 x 160 cm Photography - 63 x 63 inch
$7,942
Les marches - Japon
Brno Del Zou
Photography - 59 x 120 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.2 x 47.2 x 0.1 inch
$961
1915 Lady à la robe noire Lady with black dress
Eugène Druet
Photography - 54 x 43 x 0.5 cm Photography - 21.3 x 16.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,640
Cinematography inspired session #13
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 45 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$215 $162
Sans Titre (TAC161618)
Jérôme Garrido
Painting - 100 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$961
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
$679
Balade d'amoureux
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
$113
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
$2,262
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
$2,262
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$2,036
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!