This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Moving Forward
There is a long history of research on the creation of color and its physical and physiological effects on the human body. The past few chapters have dealt with how thinking about color mechanically can help build strong images. There’s no doubt this is useful information, and seeing it successfully put to use is gratifying as an image-maker. However, the mechanics, much like everything in photography, are but one part of the image formula.
I believe nuts and bolts are necessary, and we’ll never stop learning the ins and outs of our technique and the science behind what makes images technically work, but to create images with an emphasis only on the mechanics and the science is restrictive. Visual connection is also made on an emotional, interpretive level that is wrapped up in what the content of the images means, personally and on a social and cultural level.
From this point on, we’ll bridge the gap between the science and the technical elements of color and what it powerfully does for us as photographers, and the meaning behind many colors that stand out to us on a daily basis. The next section moves from the objective to the subjective way of looking at and working with color.