Black and white pictures and color pictures illicit very different reactions from a viewer. Different individuals have varied preferences as to which is more appealing. This may relate to what each type of image represents.
Color in photographs can symbolize modernity and innovation. They depict much more variety for the eye to take in. They can capture brightness much more effectively. Black and white photos can represent an older time, a more basic and personal relationship withe the artist and his or her equipment. The results can display themes of antiquity and a feeling of past versus present. Though the eye is only taking in tones tints and shades, the contrast between light and dark can be drastic where needed.
With the advent of modern technology such as the digital camera and photoshop, the line between the two styles has been blurred. Most young photographers can choose either genre to shoot in on one camera. There are those who still choose to shoot without digital assistance and leave their work to the darkroom. I tend to prefer black and white images to color. Though the disadvantages are many, the final product attained can deliver more emotional content and more depth than the average color image. This of course is not always the case. There are, as always, exceptions to the rule. But for the most part I find something to be lost in modern color photography, and will always lean toward those dramatic black and whites.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Color Association
As a society, we associate certain colors with certain aspects of emotion, life and culture. I asked five of my friends to participate in an experiment in which I named a color and they were to respond with whatever words they associated with said color. The responses were as follows.-
RED- stop, danger, anger, fire, heat, energy, hyper, dance, rose, wine, blood, violence, riot.
ORANGE- hazard, construction, roadwork, warm, neon, highway, pumpkin, Halloween, fall, pizza, orange, burn.
YELLOW- sun, light, bright, slow, yield, lemon, sour, school, taxi, yawn, sleep, raincoat, summer.
GREEN- go, move, nature, tree, plant, leaf, grass, yard, environment, recycle, mint, vegetable.
BLUE- sky, sea, water, ocean, lake, pond, river, stream, fly, cool, splash, rain, flood, ship, fish, waves, surf, night, bed, cold, winter.
PINK- girl, feminine, flower, youth, dainty, baby, soft, dress, bright, birth, pregnancy, children.
BLACK- dark, night, coal, ink, full, flat, covered, blind, evil, death, funeral, tuxedo, suit.
WHITE- light, empty, clear, pure, open, endless, virgin, blank, wedding.
The results for the most part were answers I would expect to be common for the average person, red to illicit stop for example. There were some interesting responses one could attribute as random and based on the individual's subconscious, but they were in the minority. In this experiment, most participants gave the same or similar answers.
RED- stop, danger, anger, fire, heat, energy, hyper, dance, rose, wine, blood, violence, riot.
ORANGE- hazard, construction, roadwork, warm, neon, highway, pumpkin, Halloween, fall, pizza, orange, burn.
YELLOW- sun, light, bright, slow, yield, lemon, sour, school, taxi, yawn, sleep, raincoat, summer.
GREEN- go, move, nature, tree, plant, leaf, grass, yard, environment, recycle, mint, vegetable.
BLUE- sky, sea, water, ocean, lake, pond, river, stream, fly, cool, splash, rain, flood, ship, fish, waves, surf, night, bed, cold, winter.
PINK- girl, feminine, flower, youth, dainty, baby, soft, dress, bright, birth, pregnancy, children.
BLACK- dark, night, coal, ink, full, flat, covered, blind, evil, death, funeral, tuxedo, suit.
WHITE- light, empty, clear, pure, open, endless, virgin, blank, wedding.
The results for the most part were answers I would expect to be common for the average person, red to illicit stop for example. There were some interesting responses one could attribute as random and based on the individual's subconscious, but they were in the minority. In this experiment, most participants gave the same or similar answers.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Pink=Girl?
As a society, we associate the color pink with femininity. If you were to ask almost anyone you meet what they connect the color pink to, the answer invariably will be girls or women, or something of a female nature. Why do we connect the feminine and pink so strongly?
When a baby girl is born, pink is the signifying color, whether it be in caps, socks, blankets, or balloons. Boys on the other hand get "baby" blue as their hue. The color pink is linked closely to ideas such as flowers, Spring, certain fruits, and other things seen as father female in nature. When a man wears pink, it is generally seen as strange at first, usually "girly" by most. It is surely considered the least masculine color. It was not always this way. Many periods of history are marked with pink being the color of high fashion, gender aside. Sut how did this come about?
One theorists, Mary Rayme, postures the origins of this phenomenon to have begun during World War II. The Nazi's used color to distinguish their prisoners. We all know of the use of the yellow star of David to signify someone of the Jewish faith. What is lesser known is their use of a pink upside down triangle to signify homosexuals. This is one possibility as to how the effeminate qualities of the color pink came to be, though we still have no conclusive assertion. (http://artsociety.suite101.com/article.cfm/color__the_history_of_pink)
When a baby girl is born, pink is the signifying color, whether it be in caps, socks, blankets, or balloons. Boys on the other hand get "baby" blue as their hue. The color pink is linked closely to ideas such as flowers, Spring, certain fruits, and other things seen as father female in nature. When a man wears pink, it is generally seen as strange at first, usually "girly" by most. It is surely considered the least masculine color. It was not always this way. Many periods of history are marked with pink being the color of high fashion, gender aside. Sut how did this come about?
One theorists, Mary Rayme, postures the origins of this phenomenon to have begun during World War II. The Nazi's used color to distinguish their prisoners. We all know of the use of the yellow star of David to signify someone of the Jewish faith. What is lesser known is their use of a pink upside down triangle to signify homosexuals. This is one possibility as to how the effeminate qualities of the color pink came to be, though we still have no conclusive assertion. (http://artsociety.suite101.com/article.cfm/color__the_history_of_pink)
Monday, February 25, 2008
Color: Social Comentary (images below)
In this blog I'm exploring the social implications of color in two images. The first I chose was of an enclosed construction site. The majority of the colors in this picture are fairly muted. We see the faded burgundies of the dirty brick wall, the varying grey tones of the concrete blocks, slabs, and rubble, and the fence in the foreground. The only exceptions are the turned over bright orange construction barrel and cut off parking sign in white and red. The colors of this image illicit a strong sense of urbanity. These are the hues and tones one would expect to see in any city work cite, accented acutely by the "hazard" orange of the fallen barrel. This is a color and object when seen together we associate immediately with construction and manual labor.
For my second image I chose a packed shelf holding boxes of bottled beer. I selected this shot for its use of color within advertising. Obviously each box contains at least one bright color. This being a product of consumption no manufacturer would opt for dull packaging. in the case of beer, bottles specifically, the colors of the wrapping generally reflects the actual color of the beer, or at the very least the color the glass makes it appear to be. Carona uses yellow, Heineken green, and Amstel brown. Also, there is generally a small amount of contrasting color amongst the major hue, to draw our attention. Aside from the colors being on the brighter side to catch the eye of the consumer, the average twenty-something would most likely be able to identify these brands just by seeing their colors, excluding any text. We learn to associate these specific colors and the patterns they appear in with the product instinctively, just as one does with Pepsi or McDonald's.
We as a society use color to directly make associations. Whether that be brand names, the setting of a scene, or a color we recognize as a warning, our use of color to make inferences and create mental relationships is invaluable to our social interactions.
For my second image I chose a packed shelf holding boxes of bottled beer. I selected this shot for its use of color within advertising. Obviously each box contains at least one bright color. This being a product of consumption no manufacturer would opt for dull packaging. in the case of beer, bottles specifically, the colors of the wrapping generally reflects the actual color of the beer, or at the very least the color the glass makes it appear to be. Carona uses yellow, Heineken green, and Amstel brown. Also, there is generally a small amount of contrasting color amongst the major hue, to draw our attention. Aside from the colors being on the brighter side to catch the eye of the consumer, the average twenty-something would most likely be able to identify these brands just by seeing their colors, excluding any text. We learn to associate these specific colors and the patterns they appear in with the product instinctively, just as one does with Pepsi or McDonald's.
We as a society use color to directly make associations. Whether that be brand names, the setting of a scene, or a color we recognize as a warning, our use of color to make inferences and create mental relationships is invaluable to our social interactions.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Concpetual (Clever) Art
We now move into the wonderous world of conceptual artwork, a flexable landscape of endless interpretations and definitions. For our first, albeit brief assignment, we each took a random square piece of paper from a hat, each sqaure having one of a possible eight designs draw upon it. These designs consisted mainly of one sweeping line, at most two. We then transfered that design onto a larger bristol square. Then one by one, and in order, we placed our squares onto the wall in a 3x6 rectangle. The random lines came together in random areas to form patterns upon patterns, as well as just more randomness. This was a good introduction into the idea of conceptual art, that we all were apart of the process of creating the ultimate piece, and that our contributions were random in their design.
Performance Art of the Corcoran Parking Lot
This project turned out to be very intersting, in both making my own steps for a performance piece, and seeing what others came up with for theirs'. Mine didn't act out as cleanly as I had hoped. I might have been able to make the directions a bit more clear and concise. But I do feel that if two participants had a good grasp of what the goals of the piece were it would come out very well. The idea was to lace up one of your shoes and you describe your weekend to your partner. Your partner then ties your laced shoe, repeating to you the events of your weekend, but in as few words as possible. The reasons for this were to display the somewhat selfish ways we listen to one another, awaiting our own turn to speak. The "lacer" describes his weekend fully in detail, as it takes time to lace a shoe, and because he is interested in sharing his experiences. The listener then completes the much shorter action of lacing the other's shoe, and curtly repeats the events, showing how much we really hear when someone else is speaking, usually a much more terse and less intricate version of the events, wrapping the story up in a neat little bow, along with the shoelaces.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)