I will not and do not want to start a discussion here about whether white and black are also colors. Of course, colors also express a lot. A whole lot indeed. Colors are so expressive that a single image, a single small example in this blog is by far not enough. For that, it takes a whole chapter. And I must honestly admit that color theory is really in many photography textbooks. In contrast to the topic of visual language.
This is how the German photographer Barbara Klemm to have said „Black and white is color enough“. She is best known for her documentary and portrait photography (also for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) is known and still consistently works with analog black-and-white photography today.
The colors white and red
That the viewer's gaze often falls first on bright or white areas of an image is generally accepted among photographers and is used consciously.
The color red also has a strong signaling effect. It draws our attention particularly quickly. A major reason for this is likely that red is the color of blood. Blood—whether one's own or that of other people or animals—has a high biological significance for us and therefore triggers a particularly strong perceptual reaction.
Photography isn't the only field that takes advantage of this visual impact. It is also used strategically in many areas of daily life. Traffic signs, barriers, and warning and informational signs often use the colors red and white to attract attention and make important information immediately noticeable.
The impact of visual language is by no means limited to photography. We encounter it wherever information needs to be quickly perceived and intuitively understood.
Completely without colors: Retail space for rent in Wolfratshausen
This picture also has a message. Of course.
Imagine you own a property right in the heart of Wolfratshausen's old town.
And since the previous tenant is giving up their business due to old age, you are looking for a new tenant. And in your ad, you are showing the location of the property with a (with this) picture.
Would you really use this picture with that caption? A picture that depicts tranquility, solitude, serenity, and the good old days—a picture that suggests: there’s nothing, absolutely nothing going on here? An image that makes every viewer intuitively wonder: Were there even cars back in 1926, and where did all the horse manure on the street go?
The new potential tenant realizes immediately: no people, no customers, no purchasing power, no business, no profit, nothing going on!! So, no thanks! That is what this imagery suggests.
Colors have something to say, too.
This picture isn't new to me. I've posted it before with the caption "Grünratshausen." Back then, it was meant to show that Wolfratshausen is really surrounded by greenery.
People who don't live in Wolfratshausen and the surrounding area see the scene in a completely different light. It isn't boring at first glance just because you see it every day.
What catches the eye at first glance is the green color. A lush green. Lush. There’s no shortage of water here. And water is life. Here, it brings to mind pure, clear, healthy water. Both banks are green, too. Almost idyllically green. With a small, idyllic garden/lake cottage. The two ladders signal: People swim here in the summer. This means it’s safe, clean, and cool.
And as so often:
Personally, it helps me a lot during image analysis when I realize what it NOT testifies.
- It is not a small stream.
- No ships travel here
- This small river is not as wide as the Nile or Mississippi.
- It is not brackish water. No oil slick on the surface.
- No high water, no low water: The river is filled to the brim.
- And it doesn't have a port facility with cargo ships.
- No industrial facilities can be seen on the banks. Just nature.
The color blue
The color blue has a special effect on us.
- The sky is blue
- Fine weather is blue.
- The sea is blue,
- Swimming pools are blue,
- Blue stands for summer, sun, vacation, swimming, etc.
But blue also stands for Cold. This color is often perceived as cold. In images, it conveys a sense of coolness, frost, or freezing temperatures (e.g., in winter landscapes).
The newspaper welt.de the color blue is even worth an article of its own.
There is also mention of a „color of longing“.
The color yellow
Today I went out to look for subjects featuring the color yellow. And right there by my neighbor's fence, I found what I was looking for. Still, I kept searching for more subjects. And lo and behold, there weren't that many yellow subjects after all.
Yellow in photography stands for:
Emotions
- Joy and energy: Yellow is the brightest color of the visible spectrum. It is strongly associated with Sun, warmth, associated with optimism and zest for life. Images with a dominant yellow tone appear inviting and cheerful.
- Because the human eye perceives yellow extremely quickly (it has a very high luminosity), it immediately attracts the Eye of the beholder on its own. It is used as a targeted accent to highlight a specific motif in the image.
- Yellow can also appear warning or intense, particularly in combination with black, and create a sense of unease or tension.
Lighting mood
- Warmth and coziness: In landscape and portrait photography, yellow is often created by the natural light during the „Golden Hour“ (shortly after sunrise or before sunset). It gives images a warm, soft, and nostalgic atmosphere.
- Creative image composition: Yellow elements in the image (such as a yellow flower, a taxi, or a house wall) often break up monotonous color palettes and create a strong Color contrast – yellow works particularly well as a complementary color to blue (blue-yellow contrast).
Technical meaning (Color theory)
- Color temperature: In digital image editing, the yellow tone is used to shift the color temperature of an image toward „warmer“ to adjust (incandescent light, sunlight).
A typical shade of yellow that draws photographers out to fields and farmland year after year is sunflower pictures.
Yellow can also have an aggressive effect. The best example of this: wasps and hornets are also yellow. The Borussia Dortmund jersey is yellow. And the Italian word for wasp is Vespa.