ColourResearchJournal - Kieran Murray

7/27/2019 ColourResearchJournal - Kieran Murray

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15th OCTOBER 2013

Visual Research Journal

Kieran Murray N00123130

Photographic Principles and Practice IV

-IADT 2013/14-


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Plan

For this project my plan is to explore the importance and emotional

attachment between colour and national identity in Derry. In parts of Derry

it is obvious which country the inhabitants of the area associate

themselves with.

The predominantly nationalist community in the Bogside area project their

identity by the presence of painted murals on buildings and by flying the

tricolour flag at regular intervals throughout the locality. Meanwhile the

largely unionist people of the Waterside area fervently display their identity

by colouring pavestones, telegraph poles and other items in the blue, red

and white of Britain.

I will photograph both areas, placing a focus on the outward display of

identity by each community and the way colour plays a vital role in aiding

this. I am unsure to begin with whether the final selection of pictures will be

exclusively from one of these areas or a mixture of both.

AREAS TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED


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PRIMARY COLOURS

RGB - Red/Green/Blue

Used in electronic light transmission such as TV and

Film

CMY - Cyan/Magenta/Yellow

Used in light reflective technologies such as printing

inks

YRB - Yellow/Red/Blue

Taught in art school as the primary colours

First order colours are those which can be mixed to

make any other colour. They are Red, Yellow and

Blue.

QUALITIES/EFFECTS OF COLOUR IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Yellow - It is the brightest colour and gains our attention with ease. It has a strong appeal

to our emotions and denotes happiness.

Red - It is an intense colour that also grabs our attention. It can divert our concentration

even in the smallest of quantities

Blue - It is a reserved colour that portrays a feeling of calmness, passivity and tranquility.

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS

Colours that lie at opposite ends of the wheel. Blue-Orange, Red-Green and Yellow-Purple

are three such combinations. When these mix of colours appear together can be said to be

in balance. They also increase each colours respective intensity through a process known

as Simultaneous Contrast

COLOUR INTENSITY AND LUMINOSITY

The perception of colour is affected by many factors including the amount of available light.

The low light, red appears more dull with green and blue seemingly more bright than it

relative to their brightness in more intense light. This is known as the Purkine Shift.

SOURCE: www.luminous-landscape.com

WHITE BALANCE AND COLOUR CONSTANCY
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.luminous-landscape.com&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFbrxeswbRXHAL46Qw-RYuiOzn2ng


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In colour photography, white balance is a very important part of making sure colour

appear as they do to the human eye. Different lighting conditions give different colour

casts which affects the colour of objects in photographs.

Your visual system (eyes and brain) calculate the average illumination conditions of a

scene and then subtract those conditions so that colours remain relatively constant.

This is why blue object appears blue whether you are viewing in under fluorescent

light, incandescent light and under the midday sun. This is known as Colour

Constancy. The camera, however, is only an instrument and does not have the

advantage of an advanced mental system to sort out problems with colour cast.

Units of Kelvin are used to measure colour temperature in images matching the Kelvin

number in your camera to the lighting conditions is a vital component of producingcorrect colour in the final image.

EFFECT OF KELVIN SETTING ON THE FINAL IMAGE

KELVIN GUIDE CHART

1000-2000k - Candlelight 2500-3500k - Tungsten Bulb

3000-4000k - Sunrise/Sunset 4000-5000k - Fluorescent Lamps

5000-5500k - Electronic Flash 5000-6500k - Daylight (clear sky)

6500-8000k - Moderately Overcast 9000-10000k - Shade or Heavily Overcast

SOURCES - www.cambridgeincolour.com, www.youtube.com/vsauce

FLAGS AND COLOUR
http://www.youtube.com/vsaucehttp://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cambridgeincolour.com&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNF5tIhTkDGtF7EC0QPRvdKbrLc4Qg


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BRITISH

The British flag or Union Jack is a selection of

red and white crosses on blue backdrop.

The colours in the British flag are traditionally

meant to symbolise the following:

WHITE - peace and honesty

RED - hardiness, bravery, strength & valour

BLUE - vigilance, truth and loyalty, perseverance & justice

IRISH

The Irish flag is a tricolour which include green,

white and orange

The colours of the Irish are traditionally meant tosymbolise the following:

GREEN - The native Irish people (predominantly

Catholic and nationalist/republican

ORANGE - British supporters of William of Orange who settled in Northern

Ireland in 17th century ( predominantly Protestant and unionist/loyalist)

WHITE - Peace and honesty between both people

SOURCE - www.vexillologymatters.org

HISTORY OF DERRY AND THE TROUBLES
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vexillologymatters.org&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEOCu3cj_w4yOAsFPh6jLuAHOdZaA


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Historically Derry City has been home to the most direct co-inhabitance of

Catholics and Protestants (Nationalist/Unionist) on the Island of Ireland. It

began in the 17th century when the Protestant followers of Englands King

William of Orange defended their city from being taken over by the

Catholic King James II which began an 105 day lock-in known as the

Siege of Derry. This mentality of defending their community stayed with

the Unionist people and has been commemorated each year since 1814

in the city by a group called the Apprentice Boys of Derry.

In August 1969, the Apprentice Boys of Derry began marching near the

catholic Bogside area and taunts and missiles were exchanged between

both nationalists and unionists. After being repeatedly bombarded by

stones and petrol bombs the RUC (police force), backed by the unionists,tried to storm the Bogside. They used tear gas, armoured cars and water

cannons but were held at bay for two days. The conflict would become

known as the Battle of the Bogside and would be the official beginning of

The Troubles.

On the 30th of January 1972, Bloody Sunday (sometimes referred to as

the Bogside Massacre) occurred in Derry. The Northern Ireland Civil

Rights Association were marching through the city on the day. Themarchers were unarmed and it was meant to be a peaceful protest when

soldiers from the British Army opened fire, killing 14 and injuring another

12.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s violence continued in Derry and riots

were commonplace due to the discontent towards the British Army. In

1981, all of the 23 that took part in the prison hunger strike protest against

the policy of internment and Margaret Thatcher's government were all from

Derry, 10 of whom eventually died.

SOURCE: MODERN IRELAND by GERALD BROCKIE AND RAYMOND WALSHE

Robert Walker - Time Square


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In his work, Robert Walker uses the colour in his images to enhance the

presence of the advertisements in Time Square and make them

overpower and dwarf the people in the city. The dark and subdued clothing

of the pedestrians and citizens on public transport often makes the virtually

indistinguishable and invisible on first glance. Giving the people in the

pictures small areas to occupy within the frame also shows the importance

and stature the advertising has over them.

The colour most prevalent in the advertising pictured in red. Red is a

colour frequently used in advertising due to its ability to attract the eye

more quickly and the effect it has on human psyche. Even in the

photographs where red is not the dominant colour it still manages to attract

your attention. You can also see its effect when you compare it to the

Slave to reality! photo. Even though that picture is as cluttered as the rest

with advertising, the predominantly blue colour palette gives the a more

soft and less frantic feeling than some of the others.

The images show how ubiquitous visual culture and marketing is in our

lives even if we may not always be aware of it and colour plays a major role

in how you view the products you see in advertising,

This series of photographs puts colour to great use not in displaying the

emotion and views that the photographer wishes to portray but

demonstrating the ideals and view that the advertisements wish to put

forward.

Pictures sourced from http://robertwalkerphoto.com/pictures/
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Frobertwalkerphoto.com%2Fpictures%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFia47bpzrHb0NN85APD5u-1_SKEQ


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Andy Freeberg - Art Fare


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In his work Art Fare, Andy Freeberg is showing meetings between

executives, curators, artists and collectors that usually go on behindclosed doors.

In this series of photographs Andy Freeberg puts colour to good effect

in this work. He both complements and contrasts the human subjects of

the pictures by the art subject they are matched with, As a whole, I

think the work is showing the disparity when the harsh, sterile and rigid

world of business intersects with the more expressive and emotional

world of art.

In many of the photographs we see the subjects dressed in quite

colourless clothing and either in various shades of grey, black or white

whilst the frivolously coloured artwork behind them takes control of the

viewers attention. It is usually quite distinct when one of the artists

appear in a picture as they tend to inject more colour into the frame

and either challenge or connect with the piece in their presence.

My favourite use of colour in the series is the third image of the artist in

the pink shirt with the identically coloured pink artwork in the

background. Although it is much more subtle and subdued they create

a much more relaxed feel to the photograph.

Pictures sourced from http://andyfreeberg.com/artfare.html
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fandyfreeberg.com%2Fartfare.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHhVcOspbNYSd7C0cH3Fi_djyMFAA


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Alex Webb

Grenada, 1979. (1)

Mexico, 1985. Children playing in a courtyard (2)


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Brazil, 1993. Tarpaulins on boats in the Amazon which fend of rain

but increase the temperature for passengers (3)

Panama, 1999. Mural and child in the city (4)


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Mexico, 1999. Tijuana (5)

Mexico, 1995. Maquilla worker housing being built (6)


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Haiti, 1987. Elections (7)

Panama, 1999. US military jungle warfare unit in Fort Sherman (8)


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Alex Webb is an American photojournalist associated with Magnum who

has documented many countries, many in central and latin America. In

Webbs documentary photographs he often makes very effective use of

colour in his images.

Most of these photographs put colour to great aesthetic but pictures 5 and

6 do so in a more meaningful sense. In picture 5 the colour red is used to

link the posters of both Jesus and Santa Claus. This picture is quite

humourous and it shows visually the struggle between the

commercialisation of society and traditional views. Picture 6 shows

colourful high-heel shoes in front of Maquilla housing. A maquilla in Mexico

is a name for factory workers involved with manufacture and assembly.

The bright coloured shoes shows the contrast between the dull drab

surroundings the inhabit and products that are made for the capitalist

societies they are serving.

In the second picture, the light blue tones in the buildings, the ball and the

children complement each other and give quite a relaxed and sombre lookto the picture. This is in stark contrast to other pictures I have included, eg

number 1 and 8 which dark atmosphere lends itself to a more tense and

dramatic feel.

Overall, the colour in his images adds a great deal of depth and aesthetic

qualities to the work which would have been otherwise lacking.

Pictures sourced fromhttp://www.tinyurl.com/alexwebb-magnum
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.magnumphotos.com%2FC.aspx%3FVP3%3DCMS3%26VF%3DMAGO31_10_VForm%26ERID%3D24KL53Y_H&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFNcITt2fKsu-msxxARLfjcshcTWA


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Carolyn Drake - Encounter (Uyghur)


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The colour in Carolyn Drakes series is used to show the vibrancy of

the Uyghur people and the grim areas that they have been forced to

move to and work in.

- The vibrancy and rich culture of the people is shown by Carolyn

Drake in the colour of the Uyghurs clothes, belongings and

households.

- This is juxtaposed with the dull murky yellow and brown colours that

characterise the desert town areas that they have been made inhabit

and forge a living in.

- In the fifth picture this conflict of colour and culture is placed in direct

competition with each other with the young boy pictured outside a

building in traditional clothing. Despite being in only a tiny portion of the

frame, the red clothes of the boy manage to direct the attention whilstviewing the photograph which is a characteristic of the colour.

- The subtilty of the dull yellow/brown colour of the sand and sky in the

third picture perfectly captures how destitute and desolate an area in

is.


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Images sourced from http://carolyndrake.com/uyghur/encounters/

Melanie Einzig - USA (Street photography)
http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fcarolyndrake.com%2Fuyghur%2Fencounters%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFxpday1ytGdT2L3AWgvqc3tDfpGw


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Steve McCurry


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INDIA. Jodphur. 1996. A fruit vendor plies his wares.

AFGHANISTAN. Herat. 1992. Rebuilding the city of Herat after years of Soviet bombing


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INDIA. Old Delhi. 1983. Train Station platform.

SOUTH AFRICA. Capetown. 1996. Saint James beach on the penninsula's east coast.


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AFGHANISTAN. Kabul. 1992. Dyer shop.

TIBET. Sakya. 2000. Monk meditating in a monastery.


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Use of Colour in other media - Television

Breaking Bad

In the American television programme Breaking Bad, the colour of clothes

worn by the characters is often used

as method by which to display their

desire, mood or trait at a given time

in the story.

Green: Green is the colour used to

signify greed, money, growth and

envy in the series. The main

character Walter wears green when

he begins his production of meth and various characters involved with

money laundering or interacting with money for their personal gain can be

seen wearing this colour.

Red: Blood, murder, aggression and violence. In periods where the

characters display aggression or are confronted, directly or indirectly, withthe prospect of death or violence they can often seen to be wearing red in

some form. It is also used occasionally by characters who wish to assert

their dominance or position through the use of a particularly threatening or

aggressive manner.

Pink: Naivet, youth. Pink is the colour most directly attributed to

characters who hold a naive position with regards to activities or events

within the story. People who are oblivious to the either ongoing events orfuture developments in their life often wear pink. It is worn Walters wife

Skyler in flashbacks to demonstrate how unaware she is of her future.


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Black: Death, darkness, evil, power, secrecy, deception. Characters that

descend into more immoral and mavelovant behaviour begin to wear dark

clothing more frequently. Given the nature of their business being illegal,

the main protagonists involved in the drug business are required to lie to

their friends, family and sometimes each other about their actions. Black is

worn by people who display a particular deceptive manner in a given

scene.

Other colour usage

Yellow: Optimism, pleasure, caution, cowardice, fear

Blue: Loyalty, sadness, purity, coldness

Brown: Humility, stability, strength

Purple: Luxury, royalty, protection, safety

Orange: Humour, action, fire, violence

Gray: Depression, illness, guilt,mourning, revenge, regret


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Psychology of colour in sport

In English football, the power and influence of wearing the colour red can be displayed by

the number of honours collected by teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Of the 21 seasons since the Premier League began in 1992, red has been the colour worn

by the league champions on 16 occasions while teams wearing blue have only amassed 5titles. A similar trend can be seen by English teams performance in the European cup.

English teams have won the European cup 13 times with 10 of these victory being

collected by red wearing clubs. A similar story can be seen in Germany where Bayern

Munich have won 11 of the last 20 German Bundesliga titles and remain the nations

dominant force in Europe.

Whereas the dominance of red wearing is hard to confirm due to it being open to more

history coincidence rather actually psychological influence, Olympic sport offers a more

open platform to judge whether colour plays a role in the outcome of results. In manyOlympic events where two opponents are placed in direct combat with each other, the two

competitors are assigned to wear either the colour red or blue at random. It can be

observed that, although only marginal, athletes wearing red come out on top more often

than their blue counterparts. Information collected from the last three Olympic Games show

that competitors wearing red won 53.6% of matches with this number rising slightly in bouts

where the athletes are perceived to be quite evenly matched.

It may not only be the athletes that are affected by the colours worn during competition but it

seems referees are also influence by what the competitors wear. A study carried out by the

Association for Psychological Science (APS) tested this theory on Taekwondo referees.

They showed 42 experienced referees 11 fight sequences and repeated this by showing

them the same sequences with the colours worn by the athletes switched. It found that the

competitors in red received 13% more points than the blues did. This study also showed a

greater increase in points scored by the reds when the athletes were closely matched in

terms of strength.

Sources: Der Spiegel, APS

Use of Colour in Advertising


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RED - It is a powerful colour that is used to indicate

power, vitality and vigour. It is extremely attractive and

has the ability to increase breathing and pulse rates.

The power of products is often described with red and

it is often used in the motor industry for this and other

reasons. Red also has the ability to arouse adults and

is also used frequently in the cosmetics industry. The

colour also has the capability to stimulate the appetite

of humans and that is why many leading food

companies like McDonalds, Burger King, KFC,

Dominos etc. use this colour in their branding and

advertising.

GREEN - Green is the colour readily associated with

nature and as a result of this it is most utilised in an

advertising scenario where the company are trying to

portray health, vitality and environmental awareness. It

can be seen regularly in adverts that put forward the

claim that products are either fair-trade or do not

adversely affect the environment. The difference

between the Audi advert above and the Toyota Prius

is startling and completely to do with the USP that the

advertisers want the product to be associated with.

BLUE - Blue is the worlds favourite colour and is used in adverts for many different

purposes. It promotes serenity, clarity, reliability in its main form but also formality,

elegance and luxury in its deeper shades. It is also associated with being a cool colour and

is therefore used to denote refreshment and ice cold liquids. In addition blue is used to

promote clarity and purity which is why mineral water and some cleaning product are given

a blue tint. Unlike red it is never used to advertise food as it suppresses hunger and

appetite.

YELLOW - Yellow is a very attractive colour to the eye but can be more straining andoverbearing than red. Yellow is a happy, energetic colour, that sometimes symbolizes

rejuvenation hence the use of the colour yellow in beauty products. Yellow is also used to

show the scrumptious attraction of buttery food products, the sunshiny cheerfulness of toys

and such, and the happy child atmospheres in general. People tend to associate yellow to

sunshine and happiness, so therefore remains quite a useful tool in advertising.


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PURPLE - Purple is the luxury colour. High quality in its elegance, its often used to attract

women, who find the colour irresistible. Because of its costly appearance, it can affect

perception of bargain hunters, while at the same time giving quality to cheaper products.

As a result, purple is overall a regal mark of the feminine with teenage girls forming the

largest proportion of purple fans.

ORANGE - Orange is a more neutral shade of red. It has all the energetic warmth of the

warmer half of the colour wheel, but it doesnt have reds association with negative

emotions. It is used as an adrenaline power shot, with a lot of use in energy drinks,

orange-flavorings and children-associated products. On the negative side, though, orange

can give a very strong impression of shoddy cheapness, so although it shouldnt be used

on luxury products, it can be used for low-price things like fast-food and bargains. While

orange also stimulates the appetite, it shouldnt be used for the more expensive food

products. Its usually reserved for the candy and the soft drinks.

BLACK - Black is the smooth shade of exclusivity. Shiny black is a mark of excellence,

while black on the whole is a very formal colour in advertising, hinting of corporate touches.

Although black tends to be a more traditional colour, it can be used to give class to

advertising as well. Black text is one of the most conventional bromides of advertising, but

experts are finding it useful to change traditional black on white writing as it makes

information pop out better.

WHITE - White, on the other hand, is the cool airy shade of purity. Used a lot to depictcleaning substances, its also often used to give a calm look to a room shown in an

advertisement. Modern and abstract, white remains a favorite where clear-cut lines play a

role.

CONTACT SHEET


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FINAL SELECTION

In the end I abandoned the idea of examining both communities and picked my

images exclusively from those I shot in New Buildings in the Waterside area of Derry.

I got the feeling from this area that the importance of adorning everything around thetown in blue, red and white was a more fervent than it was in the Bogside. The

touristy nature of the murals and flags in the Bogside made it seem less sincere to

me, although Im sure it has as much emotional attachment to them as the British

colours do in New Buildings. Despite the painted pavestones, signs and generally

anglo-centric colour scheme, life just goes on as normal and there is no real fanfare

or attention given to it. For this reason it made me feel like the importance of colouring

and maintain the area like this was much more deep-rooted and personal. Even given

the obvious outward display of identity in the town, it was the amount of British colour

objects and ornaments there that grabbed my attention. From basketball hoops to

smurfs in the car window (as seen below), every opportunity to project this affiliation

to Britain was taken by the inhabitants.


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CRITICAL EVALUATION

Overall I feel that I fared quite well in this project. I am more comfortable

using digital to create my images than film which made it a bit more straight

forward. Using digital can lend itself towards creating images that are less

considered and less technically sound but I feel that I avoided doing that

as much as I could.

Many of the difficulties I had when creating the images for this project were

to make them interesting photographs as well as having interesting

subjects within them. I really didnt want to just produce three images which

displayed the colour of nationalist/unionist communities but lack any real

merit as stand-alone pictures. I achieved this quite well in New Building,

which became the area featured in my images, but photographing the flags

and murals of the Bogside was a more difficult task. As I mentioned

before, I didnt want the very presence of the flags and murals to justify

including them to represent the colour.

One difficult, but necessary thing I had to do when I finally chose my finalthree images was omit an image which I really liked and that I was hoping

to include. I decided against putting it in as I felt that I was trying to fit my

other selections around that one image rather than putting forward the

three pictures which were strongest as a unit. I think that the images I

decided to go with in the end had a very clear and concise thread running

throughout them and it was correct to focus solely on the New Buildings

photographs.

I feel that technically the images are generally okay and that the colour that

I wished to display in them comes out clearly. Due to the sun being behind

the main subject in the first image, they become slightly less vivid that the

other two but I think overall they inclusion of the sun and lens flare

Documents

ColourResearchJournal - Kieran Murray