ART 240 DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY I COLOR AND LIGHT “Colors are acts of light, acts and sufferings.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.” - Pablo Picasso “One very important difference between color and monochromatic photography is this: in black and white you suggest; in color, you state. Much can be implied by suggestion, but statement demands certainty… absolute certainty.” - Paul Outerbridge “Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul.” - Wassily Kandinsky “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” - Sir Francis Bacon The apparatus and its capability to reproduce multiple images have been the hallmark of photography. As contemporary artists have attempted to interpret the medium beyond its limitations as defined in the past by incorporating other fields of study such as performance, installation and painting, light has been the one constant and essential element necessary to make a photograph. The etymology of photography says as much: recording, painting, writing, and documenting light. The observation of light is critical in articulating your vision, creating a mood, and is an essential compositional tool. Light can be molded and manipulated through deliberate decisions, altering the perception of the subject and/or object.

Light refers to the electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths that is visible to the human eye. The spectrum that we can perceive ranges from violet to red. White light is a combination of the different wavelengths that our brain can discern. Colors are deeply rooted in our psyche and we react to color on a very emotional level. They can add meaning and have a great visual impact on a photograph. But what do colors symbolize? Knowledge of the language of color is cultural and is acquired through conventions. For example, a woman wearing a white dress is associated with purity in the Western world (wedding dress), while in Asia it is worn as a symbol of mourning. Colors are often interpreted by how they are experienced in their physical environment: lava is red and hot, and therefore red is often linked to warmth, energy, passion, destruction. Despite the scientific explanation of how colors are formed, color is a purely subjective experience beyond the confine of conventions. The world around us is in color. We are bombarded with colors. Colors are often used to great length in the suggestive environment of advertising. Project Objectives You will produce a series of images in which color and light are the main component in your images. Both these elements should be the primary tools in communicating meaning and a narrative. You are free to experiment with all sorts of approaches, combining your images with other mediums such as installation and performance, as long as you highlight the role of color/light in your photographs. Project Learning Outcomes The act of seeing is more important than the act of taking the image. This assignment is primarily about the awareness of light and color. It will force you to observe and gain knowledge in the aesthetic of color and lighting. Through deliberate decisions (technically and visually) and/or experimentation, you will investigate the properties of color/light, in order to highlight two crucial elements within the photographic medium. The appreciation and understanding of these elements will further advance your vision and visual vocabulary. 8 13x19” photographs (photos have to be submitted in digital form as well. Upload the images onto your USB flash-drive prior to the critique).

Saul Leiter, Footprints

William Eggleston, Greenwood, Mississippi

Ernst Haas, Volcano, Surtsey

Joel Meyerowitz, Vivian, Bronx Botanical Gardens

Franco Fontana, Untitled, Puglia, Italy

James Welling, Flowers 29

James Welling, Glass House 0696

Alex Webb, Mexico. Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas

Stan Brakhage, The Dante Quartet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VI2U3K-gBk

Lucas Samaras, Sitting 20x24

Wolfgang Tillmans, It's only love give it away

Uta Barth, Field #9

Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1433)

Christopher Bucklow, Tetrarch 10-55am, September 27

Fred Cray, Color Self-Portraits

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia, Ike Cole, 38 years old, Los Angeles, California, $25

Richard Misrach, Paradise Valley (Arizona), 3.22.95, 7-05 P.M.

Matthew Brandt, Wilma Lake CA 1

James Turrell, Afrum (White)

Chip Simons

Pilabolus (Dance Company), Shadowland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STK7AZ_Zs_E