Happy new year’s — finally got around to spilling some thoughts on photos.
Disclaimer: Everyone has their own way of assigning value to a photograph. I'm coming at this from an aesthetics point of view - when looking at a photo I find aesthetics to be just as important or even moreso than the "message" or the memory of the event itself. Creating a photo which is more interesting than the original moment.
The majority of 2021 has been focusing mostly on subject matter and composition and currently I'm mostly focused on leveling up my color game.
There's so much to color -- to me it seems like a more multifaceted version of light & shadow.
Similarly to that of light, the purpose of color is to draw the viewer's attention to specific places of the image.
To prioritize one portion of the image over the other.
You can't have a frame that's overly complicated or just full of noise (not the high ISO kind) -- unless you want a confused and bored viewer.
Have you noticed the appeal of the film look? Less is more. Film color palettes are in fact much simpler and more coherent than that of most digital cameras, which try to achieve the level of complexity that is found in reality.
Stronger characteristics, less ambiguity -- this is how people can more effectively digest & remember photos.
But why is simpler better? I personally think it's because people have a limited sensory bandwidth and this comes into play especially when looking at a photograph for the first time.
Think of all the things people need to absorb in every photo: textures, tones, colors, framing, subject, location, etc.
Most people don't remember reality but instead just a fraction of it. That's why people think film evokes a sense of nostalgia.
The medium of film itself is the embodiment of simplification of light and color - that's why film is a timeless and beautiful medium - as all the chaos in the sensory reality has already been made simplified and coherent.
These characteristics don't need to be exclusive to film. So how can we speed up this sensory download on the digital side of photography?
I've been exploring the idea of making photos more easily digestible - via color and particularly through editing in post. Creating within limitations. If b&w gained its appeal through simplicity, why not try the same using color?
Currently working on a project which is my own study of color -- how colors may be matched, contrasted, and how this may even connect two photographs with differing subject matter.
I think what makes this project stand out from my previous work is that it explores new palettes & how contrasting characteristics can exist in the same photograph, such as terms like cold and warm. Really excited to be putting this one out. Hopefully very soon.