Color Photography

 September 28th, 2022

Color Photography

By: Connor Albaugh

Requirements of the following blog: take a photograph in which color is a dominant narrative and explain why you took the photograph. 

           Color within photography is incredibly important, both visually and mentally. In the majority of images one sees on a daily basis, there exists at least one or more colors that dominant or tell the majority of the story. Not only does color tell a story, but it has the ability to bring out the beauty of certain elements in image. It can bring attention to details and aspects of an image that are small or large as well as has an emotional side which allows someone to feel a certain way in regards to what they are viewing in a photograph. On behalf of my inspiration for this assignment, it was hard to find something with a dominant color as well as something that would be visually captivating. Yesterday, my friend and I went to Chipotle for dinner. We tried going before our film session with the soccer team, but time had run out. Eric and I went back to Chipotle a second time, and this is when opportunity to take a photograph came into play. On the wall that was so my right when I was standing in line, there are multiple white objects that hung on the wall. I really liked how this looked and decided to take advantage of such a photogenic piece of art inside of Chipotle. I wanted to capture these white objects, but also a light source illuminating them. I ended up photographing these pieces from a worm’s eye view to capture these white objects as well as the light source shining over them. Overall, I think the photograph came out well to begin with, and the utilization of Snapseed allowed me to make crucial edits to improve the details within the image as well as increase its ability to appeal to the human eye. 

            The following photograph I obtained from a simple visit to Chipotle, a newly opened location in Williamsport, PA, can be seen above. I took this image because of the dominant white color and simply due to the fact that it is quite different from what you would see in a regular image. My goal for this photograph was to not only find some form of color that was overwhelming in its visual capacity to the viewer, but force the viewer to take second and third looks at my image. For capturing color, most photographs taken by seasoned photographers have certain objects with color stick out like a sore thumb. For example, Ernst Haas’s photo of the Western Skies Motel in 1978 includes white light and red light that comes from a motel sign while being surrounded by black skies. Additionally, Saul Leiter’s photo of Footprints in 1950 captures not only a track of footprints on a sidewalk from people walking in the snow, but a red umbrella held by a man walking on this sidewalk in all black. From these two images, red is the brighter color that happens to be targeted and the red in both images really directs my attention to the places where I see red. Red from a motel sign is normal because many motel or hotel signs have red in some sort of way. However, the vibrant red color in the umbrella in Saul Leiter’s image is different and visually unique. The red color of this umbrella is so prominent that it actually deters my attention from the footprints in the image, which seems to have been Saul’s emphasis in his image. I have taken at least 5 looks at this image merely because the person walking on this snowy sidewalk is holding an umbrella with an odd color. It is very rare that you see someone walking with a red umbrella, merely because I have never seen someone walk with a color of that brightness. A lot of umbrellas are black and blue, which often is an indication of rain and creates a feeling of dreariness and sadness. The colors of white and black in this image really enhance the red umbrella and makes for an incredible image. With this being said, Saul Leiter and his ability to catch something abnormal is what I aimed to do when finding and creating a visually entertaining image. For the image at the top of this blog, there isn’t a certain meaning posted below these white objects on the wall by Chipotle as to why they would hang such things in their establishment. The meaning that comes from these white objects happens to be from my perspective. Often times, art in certain businesses and in general is overlooked. Most people fail to take the opportunity to appreciate the merely simplicity as well as the beauty of certain art pieces. The white objects side by side in Chipotle is definitely overlooked because most think it provides aesthetic value instead of forcing people to take more than one look at such a simple, but visually interesting piece of art in the store. 

            After the editing process of the image at the top of this blog, I was able to make the image more visually captivating as well as clean up slight aspects that were lacking in a sense. The meaning that one can take away from this image becomes even more prevalent as many of the aspects are enhanced. The first aspect of this image that captures the eye is the white objects. The white objects are shown with the presence of a black background which allows the white color and design of these objects to stick out, just like the red umbrella in Saul Leiter’s image. The design with these white objects is very entertaining because there are different groves and line patterns that make these objects cool in a sense. The texture on these white objects seems to be rough, which is similar to lines on a human’s hand with skin and slight wrinkles showing. I increased the contrast on the image because it allows for the texture of the white objects to have “more of a spotlight” even though they are already in the spotlight from the light source above them. The lighting in this image is another important aspect because it allows the viewer to see the details of each aspect in the image as well as highlights the white objects in a dramatic way. Light hits the front of these white objects while some areas are darker because the light doesn’t reach these grooves or undercarriages. The lack of light in certain spots enhances the image because the shadows created in these areas shows that light goes where it is capable and also dramatizes the detail and textures that the white objects can offer. The focus in this image is brilliantly done because it targets a certain area of the white object which brightness the overall white color and allows the viewer to see the texture and design of the white object in its full capacity. The leading lines from the wooden ceiling, the black strip holding the light, and the lines from the black background and top of the white wall lead the viewed right into the main portion of emphasis in this photograph which happens to be the white object on the wall in Chipotle. The color white is a favorite of mine, as I constantly see myself wearing white shirts, white socks, and even white sweatshirts. To me, the color white represents cleanliness in a sense. Something that is white can be stained or ruined easily because any type of mark damages the aspect of anything white and puts at risk it’s overall cleanliness. Additionally, white is seen to represent the idea of purity and tranquility. For example, white is worn by the bride at a wedding because the idea of marriage contains the fact that each body of the relationship shall be loyal and “pure” in the sense that they will take care of each other and hold the vows and other aspects of the marriage such as love and honestly to a high standard as to abide by these things for the rest of their lives. Additionally, white in Chipotle’s represents the purity in their ingredients. They have nothing but fresh and fulfilling food choices that are meant to satisfy the needs of their customers. One can also feel peace with the presence of white because there is no external factor such as wind or heat that people have to deal with when they are trying to get their food and move on with their life. This idea of food is, in a sense, one’s way to wind down and relax before taking on other challenges of our world. The white objects in Chipotle may be subconsciously passed by its customers even though its beauty and visual captivating don’t go unnoticed from someone like me.