{"id":7850,"date":"2026-07-31T14:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgenthaler.art\/?page_id=7850"},"modified":"2026-09-08T17:10:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T17:10:37","slug":"bildsprache-mit-farben","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/morgenthaler.art\/en\/bildsprache\/bildsprache-mit-farben\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagery with colors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is how the German photographer Barbara Klemm<\/strong> to have said \u201eBlack and white is color enough\u201c<\/strong>. She is best known for her documentary and portrait photography (also for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung<\/em>) is known and still consistently works with analog black-and-white photography today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The colors white and red<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014whether one's own or that of other people or animals\u2014has a high biological significance for us and therefore triggers a particularly strong perceptual reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Completely without colors: Retail space for rent in Wolfratshausen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This picture also has a message. Of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you own a property right in the heart of Wolfratshausen's old town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would you really use this picture with that caption? A picture that depicts tranquility, solitude, serenity, and the good old days\u2014a picture that suggests: there\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Colors have something to say, too.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This picture isn't new to me. I've posted it before with the caption "Gr\u00fcnratshausen." Back then, it was meant to show that Wolfratshausen is really surrounded by greenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What catches the eye at first glance is the green color. A lush green. Lush. There\u2019s 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\u2019s safe, clean, and cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as so often:
Personally, it helps me a lot during image analysis when I realize what it NOT <\/strong>testifies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n