Lesson#2 the Biography of Color
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
LESSON#2 THE BIOGRAPHY OF COLOR Do you recall the first time that a color in a given photograph had a memorable impact on you? Did you or someone else take that particular photograph? Do you remember what color it was? Do you often respond favorably or unfavorably first to a photograph’s content, its composition or to the color(s) that make-up the overall image? Most of us have at least one if not several favorite colors. As you may have discovered last week discover your favorite color or colors do say not only a lot about what kind of subjects you like to photograph, but also, (and arguably), the colors you choose, or not choose, to photograph, says a lot about you psychologically. We are all perhaps familiar with the saying, "we are what we eat" but did you know “you are what you photograph”? In my many years of experience I have come to the conclusion that what we choose to shoot is often times a representation of our inner-self. A different kind of selfie to be sure, but a selfie that is just as revealing about you, including your use of (or limited use of color). Obviously if I look at a body of your work i.e. 20 images, and I see that you love to shoot pictures of people, it would be a very easy assumption to conclude that you are a ‘people photographer’; yeah, I know a real no-brainer! But to be really clear, I am not actually looking at your people pictures per say, but rather I am looking at HOW you compose and expose these pictures. Do you use mostly the horizontal frame or the vertical frame? Do you cut into the person’s forehead or leave lots of space around the head? Do you cut off arms and legs and if so, where, at the elbow or wrist, the hips or knee? Do you favor backgrounds of our of focused shapes and tones of colors or do most of your backgrounds render a great deal of sharpness and thus are more informative? Do you like shooting men more than woman, children more than seniors? Do you prefer individual portraits or group shots; people at work, or people at play; candids or posed; local people or people in foreign lands? And of course when it comes to your use of color in these compositions, I would be looking to see what colors you are drawn too as well as what colors you seem to recommend to people when you find yourself doing an actual portrait session. Your color choices in your compositions are your choices, even when you insist that the person you are photographing was a stranger to you and therefore his/her color “was what it was” and you had no say in the matter. But you did have a say in the matter, which is indicated by your willingness to invest the time, no matter how short, into the creation of that image. You could have walked away and NOT taken the shot, but instead, you did and what I am suggesting is that many times, consciously or sub-consciously we are all making very quick decisions of what we choose to photograph in large measure because of the subjects color, whether that subject be animate or inanimate. If in your work I see a lot of green you are revealing to me that you are young at heart. If I see a lot of orange in your work you are revealing to me that you are both a cheerful sort as well as a bit flamboyant and if I see a lot of purples and violets in your work, you might be of a royal family lineage and perhaps even feel that you are a wee better than most of us. Of course this course is not going to suggest that in the upcoming pages a lengthy and potentially controversial analysis of your inner psychological will be revealed, but in the interest of having fun I do want to share with you some of the psychological meanings that those who are in the business of studying and understanding our reaction to color have concluded. As you learn about the psychological meanings of color in the following pages, please keep in mind that I feel you should embrace this information with the same seriousness and enthusiasm as you might when reading your Astrological profile as well as your daily horoscope. I promise you will discover yourself in all of the colors being discussed, and to be certain, your ‘true colors’ will show up under one color more than others, but as a cautionary note, how serious you should take these definitions of the ‘inner you’ is be left up to those who know you best, and that starts first and foremost with you. And keep in mind that if in your work you see a lot of one or maybe two colors over and over, you should not conclude that your inner self is defined in large measure by the psychological meanings of that one or two colors, but rather it is an psychological indication perhaps of where you are and/or have been over the last few years. Assuming you are like most of us, your love of color(s) is in a constant state of transition. You might be on a GREEN/YELLOW color kick for several years and then gradually or suddenly, you notice, you are drawn to RED/ORANGE. All of us are in a constant state of maturing, hopefully, and that also means that our likes and dislikes about color are changing also. Nowhere is this ‘need’ for change greater than in the natural world where there are distinctly four seasons. Although your ‘seasons’ are far greater than three months, more like years in fact, it is expected that given enough time, it is or will be evident, that like most of us, you too like all colors, including your favorite color from yesterday, your current favorite today, as well as tomorrows undiscovered favorite color. So with that in mind let's go have some fun and explore the psychological meanings of color and their impact on our reasons for choosing to shoot them. RED Throughout history, no color has played a more important role than RED. A red tie against a freshly pressed white shirt, was often referred to as the “power tie!” Worn by the rich and powerful working in the white-collar world, a red power tie commanded respect and of course this was due in large part because the color red, in and of itself symbolizes leadership, decisiveness, determination and a very tight and focused vision. These are but a few of the positive characteristics of the color red. Even if until recently, you had spent your first 30 years living alone on a rock in the tropics with no internet and no access to ships and planes, you would soon be associating the color red with more then just your very tanned skin as you would discover all of the love and attention the world would be showering upon you. Love is the color red and it is celebrated in the most vivid and colorful way every th February 14 , the world over. Orders for red roses and/or a box of chocolates in a bright red heart-shaped box are symbolic ways to express our love and not at all surprising, the color of love, is also closely tied to sexual energy and intimacy. Love and sex have been partners since the beginning of time and red has been and still is the color that has been used to describe this often intense and passionate expression of both our hearts and desires. Likewise, when love is threatened, one will often feel a ‘short’ in that highly charged electrical connection called sex. That once passionate and safe feeling of love is now replaced with anger and rage; the face becomes red and the blood-pressure rise. Blood, danger, threat, war, love, passion, sex, leadership, determination, decisiveness and rage are all qualities of RED. Red is a safe color in Chinese culture, considered by many to keep the demons away and thus the mighty powerful red dragon and those red firecrackers have been a part of the Chinese New Year celebration for centuries. It is also a god luck color for many in the Far East. Although red has been replaced in large part by white, a red wedding dress was the color choice of Chinese brides for years. In India, a red wedding dress is still the favored color of most Indian brides and as a symbol of one’s commitment to another, a red dot is seen on the forehead of married woman from India, no matter where in the world they might be living. (A black dot on the forehead of an Indian woman is an indication that she is a widow.) , Some people report getting an appetite when seeing red. I must confess that if I am in a room with red walls my appetite is not affected, but if I see a pizza or pasta or Butter Chicken in its customary red sauce in that same red room, I will surely develop an appetite. Red is also assertive and aggressive and this can be attributed, in part, to the fact that red is the second most advancing of all colors. (Surprising to some, and as we’ll discuss in a little bit, yellow is the most advancing of all colors if only because on the visible spectrum it is 2 ½ times brighter on average than all other colors, including red.