Rediscovering the black and white
49 Authors:
André Breton, Steven Baggett, Sylvie D., Steve Cohen,
T.dex Photography, Philippe Lemoine, Manfred Mally, Yves Jacob,
Jimm Hughey, ks melt, Tanya Tkatcheva, Paola Bottoni, Andy Royce,
Pietro Asproni, Oleg Hrytsenko, Karen Stellmach, Rivail ., Beyhan Gsar,
Helena Layzu 🙂 BD, Javier Molina B., ✪ Matthew Sarides,
Wellington Lee, Margret Tschirch, Kateryna Vashchenkova Kaya,
Wolfgang Barth, Pina Muscas, Junya Ohshima, Patricia Concha,
Eser Dilmen, Sol Vasilliorf, Gian Corrado Donati, Stanislav Nikulich,
Michael Ackzien, Oskar Thiemicke, ilelu' (ileana lucia ferri),
Emmanuel Geitz, Peter Sauermann, Swati Kamalakar, Alec Stewart,
Susan Meltzer, Ron Cohen, Shivangi M., Nick John, Joachim Weitz,
Jaroslaw Rufer, DigitalArtist John, Mouna KHADRA,
Christian Barthold - Freeworks & Matt Mawson.
Layout & main organizer: Pietro Asproni
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From France ✧ André Breton
Nous voyons en couleur la plupart du temps et tout autour de nous est en couleur. Le noir et blanc est plus calme et plus doux, il persiste plus longtemps dans notre mémoire visuelle...
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From United States of America ✧ Steven Baggett
Richland, Oregon
Hells Canyon Reservoir
Hells Canyon Reservoir
For years I only did color photography thinking black and white was old school.
After seeing some stunning monochrome series in Behance I decided I had to learn how to process black and white photos. After years of studying Silver FX and other methods I think black and white is by far the best look in many scenes from landscapes to portraits.
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From Canada ✧ Sylvie D
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From United States of America ✧ Steve Cohen
Through A Glass, Darkly
Kian The Magnificent
Paul
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From Spain ✧ T.dex Photography
Black and white photography fascinates me, of course I love editing many of my photographs in color, I also really enjoy working with color, but editing in black and white better meets my aesthetic and emotional expectations, it allow me to express myself with more intensity and sincerity.
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From Canada ✧ Philippe Lemoine
Poupine on the neighborhood
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From Austria ✧ Manfred Mally
Venice is only really beautiful at night. No tourists and peace returns to the city. The impression can be enhanced with black and white photography
Numerous monochrome pictures have won awards in photo competitions. One of these pictures was one of them
Canale Grande at night. A special kind of experience. The stream of tourists has disappeared and it is possible to take photos without disturbance. I love taking photos at night
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From France ✧ Yves Jacob
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From United States of America ✧ Jimm Hughey, M.S. Artist, Photographer
BLACK AND WHITE ON THE ROAD TO PERCEPTION
Shadow Bend
Black and White are opposites, sparking emotion and depth that color can mask. Opposition, in contrast, evokes a feeling of interconnectedness and counterbalancing. In this manner, black and white complement one another. In this image, Light bends shadow, the trailing edge reaching for infinity. By looking at the known in a new way and context, the every day builds excitement. There is a mystery here. Shadows lead the eye; lines suggest a direction to the unknown. This is reminiscent of Plato’s Allegory, “The Cave,” in which people lived chained to the cave wall all their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them and give names to these shadows.
The message is that REALITY IS BUT A CONSTRUCTION.
Sailors 1946
My mother took this picture with a simple box camera called the Kodak Brownie. It was taken at night in the desert under a full moon, almost as bright as day. This camera had a single aperture and shutter speed and no flash. At that time, color was too expensive and unstable. Almost everyone shot photos of family and events in black and white. It was the standard, and few had color.
There is depth in this photo. Because of the fixed-focus lens, there are aberrations with darker on the left and lighter on the right. Yet the house in the background remains visible as the only discernible object on the horizon.
Who are these boys? What became of them? What was their life like?
This is how black and white photos evoke curiosity and perhaps emotion.
Winter South
Black, White, and shades of Gray are another power of contrast in this painting. Our eyes are drawn first to the darkest darks and then to the lightest lights. In this image, we must focus on contrasts, textures, and tones.
This convergence communicates and tells a more powerful story than any single shade.
Symbolic clouds outline the darkness of the heavens as the geese head south, giving a sense of motion in what is still a portrait. Black invades white in random shapes and lines to build curiosity and patterns.
The contrast also allows the geese to come out toward the viewer as a strong focal point in the image.
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From Japan ✧ ks mlt
I love shooting with B&W negative film, which I mainly use for my photography. Besides the grain of the film, B&W has a timeless quality compared to colour and tends to slow me down in my photography process. Not all scenes and subjects are relevant in B&W so when I use B&W film, I really need to think twice (or more) before pressing that shutter button, B&W forces me to be more careful about my composition and the light. It helps me seeing the world differently and since I have begun shooting in B&W 4 years ago, it changed my relationship with photography for the best and my favorite shots are of course B&W ones.
Street photography is very difficult for me so I have very few of them but here is one with a train traffic light with a cyclist in the background.
There is a word for a camellia fallen on the ground in Japanese: 落椿 (Ochi Tsubaki) and I have been shooting them for many years now as I love to see them this way as much as I love this word. To me, 落椿 is very romantic, sad, hopeful and beautiful at the same time.
I live in the countryside between Osaka and Kyoto and Summer means rice season. Unfortunately, more and more of those little rice paddy fields in the small cities near metropolis like Osaka and Kyoto are disappearing so I have been working on a photo project to immortalise them. This field along the railway that I shot 2 years ago is now under constructions and will be replaced by apartments.
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From Germany ✧ Tanya Tkacheva
Summer
July
The brightness of dark lines on light paper is always very expressive and emotional. My three graphic works are made at different times. July. Ink, paper (2016) ; Summer.(2016 ink, paper). These works were done for a black and white calendar. And the last work, is a digital art "The bird charmer" (2023). In the black and white, I added a little "sunshine" to show the magic of the sun and the music.
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From Italy ✧ Paola Bottoni
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From United States of America ✧ Andy Royce
"When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence"
Ansel Adams
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From France ✧ Pietro Asproni
I often chose to take my photos in Black and White because I think that it doesn’t offer to the reader any possibility of distraction, as the colors can do. By this way, the reader can deeper interact with the elements of the photo, living or not, and he/she is more induced to wonder about the essence of these elements, to try to find answers that will never be verifiable. As Elliot Erwitt said, BW is interpretative, and this feature elicits and trains the curiosity of who is watching, which to me is an essential aim of any artistic act.
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From Ukraine ✧ Oleg Hrytsenko
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From United States of America ✧ Karen Stellmach
Drawing in black and white can have a very minimalist, elegant, and old-fashioned feel to them.
I mostly use on animal work or stencils.
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From Brazil ✧ Rivail .
Lover's Walk in Auckland Domain Park - New Zealand I painted this in a beautiful afternoon in 2019, although it was a sunny day I felt a drop of rain at me and I needed an umbrella to finish the painting. What a lovely day!
Hayao Miyazaki's departure from her studio - My tribute to my Hero.
Missouri's house - A beautiful and creepy house in Missouri USA.
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From Turkey ✧ Beyhan Gsar
I combined my black & white drawings from different years. I think black & white works
create a story better than colorful works. Perhaps I feel and focus the story naively with the help of black & white power… isn't it?
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From Bangladesh ✧ Helena Layzu 🙂 BD
Title: feminine strength
Media: Pencil on paper
Size: 8.3 x 11.7
Year: 2024
The concept of art is a real woman. There are many ways to be a real woman. Femininity is power. Femininity may be pushing yourself in school or your career, or helping to lift others. Womanhood is not defined by relationships, jobs, body parts, or anything else - it is not defined by anyone else or anything else.
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From United Kingdom ✧ Javier Molina B.
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From Canada ✧ ✪ Matthew Sarides
Buttons
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A Portrait of My Friend
My Favorite Design of A Receptions Area
I Love Paris
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From Ukraine ✧ Kateryna Vashchenkova Kaya
When I was little, my dad had an old camera, which he used to take pictures of my mother and me. All photos at that time were black and white and I fell in love with them for the rest of my life. B/W photos have their own special character, strict and direct.
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From Germany ✧ Wolfgang Barth
Old House
Walking in the park
Old house mirror
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From Italy ✧ Pina Muscas
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From Japan ✧ Junya Ohshima
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From Australia ✧ Patricia Concha
"Whimsical Cats" a drawing converted into an etching print.
"Air, Earth and Water" a linocut artwork.
"The Fortune Teller" a drawing converted to an etching print.
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From Brazil ✧ Sol Vasilliorf
Black and white photos are powerful! As there are no vibrant colors to steal attention, the emotions of those being photographed seem to come to the surface – even if upside down.
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From Belgium ✧ Gian Corrado DONATI
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This picture has been taken in the new World Trade Center, New York City.
The second photo is dedicated to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal
Third photo, which was my personal view from the window in Boston, US.
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From Germany ✧ Michael Ackzien
Blue Harbour Night
Tulip Tree in Spring
Piscivorous
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From Germany ✧ Oskar Thiemicke
"Friends" AI-generated image
"In Your Eyes" AI-generated image
"Forbidden Mourning" AI-generated image
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From Italy ✧ ilelu' (ileana lucia ferri)
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From Mexico ✧ Emmanuel Geitz
Free
Study No. 1
Thinker
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From Netherlands ✧ Peter Sauermann
Fries Museum
Terp van Toekomst
Aalsum
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From India ✧ Swati Kamalakar
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From Scotland ✧ Alec Stewart
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From United States of America ✧ Susan Meltzer
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From United States of America ✧ Ron Cohen
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From India ✧ Shivangi M.
In the stark embrace of black and white, I find the canvas of my soul, where peace whispers softly amidst the shadows, and pain screams silently in the depths of contrasted hues, beauty and sorrow intertwine
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From Sweden ✧ Nick John
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Black and white is a visual language that can show more than color, it can highlight contours or highlights in an image to the point in the visual language. Pull the viewer into the picture in this way, yes, can also waistband, but in black and white much more dynamic. With plants and flowers, it can strongly emphasize the subtleties. In my opinion, this makes the photo language the great advantage.
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From Poland ✧ Jaroslaw Rufer
On the way to Gerlach
View from Gerlach
While the descending from Gerlach
Why this pictures:
Gerlach (located in Slovakia) is the highest peak in the Tatra Mountains.
I was born very close to the Tatra mountains area (in Zakopane town),
I love the emotions accompanying a stay in high mountains,
This trip was exceptional from a personal side.
Gerlach (located in Slovakia) is the highest peak in the Tatra Mountains.
I was born very close to the Tatra mountains area (in Zakopane town),
I love the emotions accompanying a stay in high mountains,
This trip was exceptional from a personal side.
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From United Kingdom ✧ DigitalArtist John
Resting
South Wales
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From France ✧ Mouna KHADRA
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Christian Barthold: Some fast sketches of my students at Ruhrakademie Schwerte – while they are drawing each other.
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From United Kingdom ✧ Matt Mawson
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