Color

For this week I've read an article in four parts about "Composing with Color". Alain Briot talks about how important it is for a photographer to be able to "see in color". Even though most people can see in color, it is important to be able to know what colors would look good in a photograph and how it will appear when taking the picture. The most important to know when it comes to color is the three variables of color.. "Controlling color, in photography, is controlling the three variables of color" (Briot, Part 1) These three variable is Hue (Nyans), Saturation (Mättnad), and Brighteness. The image in Briot's article that explains this the best is an image of Munsell's Color System. Albert H. Munsell, an American painter and professor in art, wanted to create a "rational way to describe color" that, instead of using color names (which Munsell felt was "foolish" and "misleading"), he would use decimal notation. Which would make it easier for him to describe colors for his students.

I think that this image of Munsell's Color System describes the three variables of colors the best. Hue is all the different colors, Saturation is how intense each individual color is. "Saturation goes from total desaturation (grayscale) to full saturation (maximum color intensity)." Brightness or Lightness is how dark of light the color is.


Throughout this article, Briot uses several qoutes from famous artist. Their common thoughts is that black & white photographs and color photographs is two really different subjects, however, they also work a lot together. To take a great black & white pictures, you have to now a lot about how the different hues (colors) reacts on desaturation. They also see how important color is as compostion, I think they all would agree that color is more than just color. "The difficulty with color is to go beyond the fact that it is color – to have it be not just a colorful picture but really be a picture about something. It's difficult. So often color gets caught up in color, and it becomes merely decorative. Some photographers use it brilliantly to make visual statements combining color and content; otherwise it is empty." - (Mary Ellen Mark)


                  Mary Ellen Mark was born in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1940. She started to take pictures at the age of 9, at that time with a Bow Brownie camera. She has been working over 30 years persuing her passion for photography, and been voted Most Influential Woman Photographer of All Time by the readers of American Photo. Her focus in photography has addressed such social issues as homelessness, loneliness, drug addiction, and prostitution. She primarly works in black & white. Mark's subjects is always people, where ever she goes it is the people that makes the photos and each picture and person tell their own story. Many of these whom she gotten to know in intimate detail. "Her knowledge guides the story but does not interfere with her demand for the strongest photograph." (Article about Mark)


Mary Ellen Mark

   


Mary Ellen Mark

 In Briot's article he talks about how photographers that is working in black and white "make a significant effort towards developing an awareness of black and white tones." The black and white photographers need to know how each color will appear in a black and white convertion and which shades of grey these colors are becoming. Another important thing is to know which areas of the image will be the darkest and the lightest. Prior to taking a picture a black and white photografer wants to visualize the image as black and white. One way to learn how different brightness areas will translate into shades of grey is to use a black and white viewing filter.


Following is a few of the other qoutes that Briot use in his article, these are all worthy to think about.

"The prejudice many photographers have against colour photography comes from not thinking of colour as form. You can say things with colour that can’t be said in black and white… Those who say that colour will eventually replace black and white are talking nonsense. The two do not compete with each other. They are different means to different ends." - Edward Weston

In my photography, color and composition are inseparable. I see in color. - William Albert Allard


It is not the form that dictates the color, but the color that brings out the form. - Hans Hofman

To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul. - Andri Cauldwell 

Overall, the article about composing with color talks about the three different variables of color and how to use these to make a good and professional image, how to be better at understanding color, and how it is affected by light, "Color is an important element of composition, one that you need to consider carefully when you are creating color photographs. Color is a powerful element and judicious use of color can significantly improve your compositions, as we learned with the examples above. It is therefore important to learn not only how color works, but also how to change the color of the elements in your composition." (Briot, Part 4)


You can find the whole article with all the four parts here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4