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Retiro in May
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€530
Pigeon monument
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€550
Steamer series 1
Margaret Neill
Fine Art Drawings - 66 x 101.6 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 40 inch
€2,832
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
€1,048
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
€1,048
Jean-Pierre Rives
Mark Leech
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€1,950
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€530
Old man with new hat
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€550
Small talks II
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
€530
Father and son
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€650
If I was your girlfriend
Mihaela Ivanova
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
€650
L'homme du passé
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 40 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0 inch
€170
Sled. Photograph intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 50.8 x 39.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 15.5 x 0.1 inch
€3,688
Ceremony II, Photograph intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 54.6 x 44.5 x 0.3 cm Photography - 21.5 x 17.5 x 0.1 inch
€3,397
Ceremony. Photograph intervened by the artists
Hunter & Gatti
Photography - 44.5 x 54.6 x 0.3 cm Photography - 17.5 x 21.5 x 0.1 inch
€3,397
Reflets de Ville
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 150 x 100 cm Photography - 59.1 x 39.4 inch
€3,760
Hommage à Brassai - Portrait craché
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 100 x 100 cm Photography - 39.4 x 39.4 inch
€2,460
Lévitation Effect 003
Jean-Claude Byandb
Photography - 60 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 0 inch
€610
Lagerfeld above Logo, Fall/Winter 2006, Le Grand Palais Paris
Simon Procter
Photography - 240 x 178 x 5 cm Photography - 94.5 x 70.1 x 2 inch
€22,000
Demain, mon rêve d'aujourd'hui, Paris
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 50 x 45 cm Photography - 19.7 x 17.7 inch
€550
Gypsy - L'Ombre de Toi - Meme, Paris
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 80 x 80 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 inch
€910
11h53 - 6,09, Crue de la Seine - Paris 2016
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 50 x 50 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 inch
€710
Où est Charlie ? V
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0 inch
€125
Midday Spécial
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 50 x 50 x 0.04 cm Photography - 19.7 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€650
L'escalier. 6,09 m crue de la Seine
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.04 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,500
C'est super, Je t'aime
Julie Peiffer
Photography - 75 x 60 x 0.04 cm Photography - 29.5 x 23.6 x 0 inch
€750
De la série : La beauté des femmes - ambiance de vacances
Matthias Leupold
Photography - 24 x 18 cm Photography - 9.4 x 7.1 inch
€1,200
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
Un'isola nell'aria
Urs Lüthi
Photography - 60 x 50 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€1,000
La Gitanilla. Revelación Emporium 1947
Martí Sala
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
€800
The himba
Faie Davis
Photography - 85.8 x 76.8 x 0.25 cm Photography - 33.8 x 30.2 x 0.1 inch
€1,456
Architects Anonymous
Alexander Benz
Photography - 80 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 31.5 x 0 inch
€1,800
Population 20 11 1976, Population d'images
Maurice Rapin
Painting - 31.5 x 44 x 0.3 cm Painting - 12.4 x 17.3 x 0.1 inch
€1,075
Population 13 1 1974, Population d'images
Maurice Rapin
Painting - 30 x 20 x 0.3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0.1 inch
€1,075
Spiritualized (1994)
Kevin Westenberg
Photography - 101 x 76 cm Photography - 39.8 x 29.9 inch
€3,980
Contemplum #017
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 33 x 50 x 0.03 cm Photography - 13 x 19.7 x 0 inch
€850
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
€11,161
L'abreuvoir d'Eiffel
Tanguy Mendrisse
Photography - 30 x 24 x 0.2 cm Photography - 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.1 inch
€120
Contemplum #013
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
€650
Contemplum #012
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
€650
Contemplum #011
Dani Garcia Sarabia
Photography - 19 x 29 x 0.03 cm Photography - 7.5 x 11.4 x 0 inch
€650
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!