Is color completely subjective?
Dec 6, 2013 12:31:48 #
Aunorman
Loc: Central Wisconsin
In both the film and digital world, one can easily change any color they please into anything they want. What are peoples' thoughts on this? Literally, anything can be changed and it is still art. Why are people so bound by what they presently see? Photography is a form of art, and in my perspective, exists to present a view never or uncommonly seen of subjects that may or may not really be present...
Maybe it's the fact that people are bound to seeing in a certain way, and refuse to be open to a new angle (on color)?
Maybe it's the fact that people are bound to seeing in a certain way, and refuse to be open to a new angle (on color)?
Dec 6, 2013 12:36:38 #
One can certainly create his/her own style and make it a sort of "signature" of his/her art.
Dec 6, 2013 12:42:23 #
Nature's color is not subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eye (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eye (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Dec 6, 2013 13:05:04 #
When I photograph something I like to get it as close to what I see and enhance the little nuances.
Dec 6, 2013 13:28:28 #
Pepper
Loc: Planet Earth Country USA
I think it is subjective as is most art. I see many photos that in my opinion are over saturated while others think they are superb, one persons art is anothers trash. No two eyes see exactly the same thing especially when it comes to color so the photographer or in many cases the camera chooses how much color is needed to produce the desired result and that is subjective whether its the photographer or the cameras software.
Dec 6, 2013 13:43:20 #
Aunorman wrote:
In both the film and digital world, one can easily... (show quote)
If you're creating art, you can make whatever changes you want. If you're recording a vacation to a foreign country, for example, I would think you would want to make it as accurate as possible.
Dec 6, 2013 14:19:12 #
Aunorman wrote:
...Maybe it's the fact that people are bound to seeing in a certain way, and refuse to be open to a new angle (on color)?
Generally we may feel that photographs of nature and people ought to have natural colors but we still like to mess with that and add saturation or change color temperatures.
But when it comes to art you are free to experiment. You are not going to please everybody but it is exploring as far from normal as you like.
Dec 6, 2013 14:51:55 #
My eyes see colors that can only be captured by the "vivid" color setting on a camera. Some of my darker reds are someone else's brown, and Motorola's "gray" radios look green to me. (Actual color name is "shadow bronze.") Women have it even better, some having a genetic 33% more color sensors than men.
Also, my eyes have different white balance between them due to MS - another reason I hate pointing my right eye into a viewfinder.
So, I would say different people have different experiences with color, in the same way people have different tastes in music.
Also, my eyes have different white balance between them due to MS - another reason I hate pointing my right eye into a viewfinder.
So, I would say different people have different experiences with color, in the same way people have different tastes in music.
Dec 6, 2013 21:31:36 #
Had cataract surgery a couple years ago. Aside from the annoyance of having "fixed focus" eyes, the most noticed change was the new vivid color vision that I experienced. Old eye lenses turn yellow with age. Those kind of beige white kitchen cabinets in our house turned a vivid blue-white and as an electronics hobbyist I noticed that I could much more easily see the color codes on resistors. I could suddenly tell orange from red and brown from violet!
My perception of color certainly changed! I probably process my images with less saturation than I used to.
My perception of color certainly changed! I probably process my images with less saturation than I used to.
Dec 6, 2013 21:59:36 #
Hence my answer:
Rongnongno wrote:
Nature's color is not subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eyes (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eyes (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Dec 7, 2013 01:09:15 #
Aunorman wrote:
Maybe it's the fact that people are bound to seeing in a certain way, and refuse to be open to a new angle (on color)?
Maybe it's the fact that people are bound to seeing in a certain way, and refuse to be open to a new angle (on color)?
Aunorman, I'm not sure in what way you are presenting this. Are you just throwing this out there, or have you studied art and have the color wheel memorized.
We as humans are hard wired, as well as socially trained to perceive colors in certain ways. It's not what colors you change, but into what color combination you change them into. When we use primary colors, they appeal to us in a certain way, or secondary or tertiary colors, it doesn't matter, as long as they are mixed correctly, they will be appealing.
Again, if you are asking as a traind artist, or as somebody who knows nothing about colors, and just talking out lout.
SS
Dec 7, 2013 02:11:40 #
The artist photographer interprets what he/she may see with the physical eyes, the mind's eye and/or some other method of vision and present this vision in a two dimensional space.
The photographer that is attempting to capture and present a journalistic representation is under severe constraints.
The photographer that is attempting to capture and present a journalistic representation is under severe constraints.
Dec 7, 2013 08:18:51 #
In my past life part of my job was to test new employees for Color vision. There are a few very important points.
1. More men are color blind to some degree than women.
2. women tend to be more sensitive to the red spectrum just before and during the menstrul cycle.
3. In most people there is a color difference between the two eyes. Try it. Pick a spot several feet in front of you, concentrate on that spot and then open and close each eye separately. Do that several times back and forth and you will probably see that difference.
1. More men are color blind to some degree than women.
2. women tend to be more sensitive to the red spectrum just before and during the menstrul cycle.
3. In most people there is a color difference between the two eyes. Try it. Pick a spot several feet in front of you, concentrate on that spot and then open and close each eye separately. Do that several times back and forth and you will probably see that difference.
Dec 7, 2013 11:03:54 #
I don't think "color" exists in nature, it exists only in our minds. Objects just reflect or absorb certain light wavelengths and our brains have evolved to recognize a tiny sliver of wavelengths as "color". It's a little analogous to "does a falling tree make a sound if no one hears it" question. A falling tree creates compression waves, our ears and brains translate those to "sound".
Rongnongno wrote:
Nature's color is not subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eye (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Nature color's can be changed by your eye (color blindness by example). This is not subjective either.
Interpretation of what colors means is subjective.
Dec 7, 2013 11:46:37 #
The times, they are a'changing. It's not so long ago that a few of us did our own B&W processing and a scant few did their own color processing but the vast majority depended on the photo lab to show us the 'correct' colors in our images.
Now, the sky is the limit... in fact, the sky doesn't even need to be blue any longer if that suits your artistic purpose.
Like all new creative technologies, the boundaries are being explored. "Art" is in the mind of the artist and the eye (and wallet) of the consumer. If they can make one another happy, why worry?
Eventually, true quality and photographic genius rises to the top. In the meantime, remember it's not always polite to snicker at someone else's effort to learn and experiment.
Now, the sky is the limit... in fact, the sky doesn't even need to be blue any longer if that suits your artistic purpose.
Like all new creative technologies, the boundaries are being explored. "Art" is in the mind of the artist and the eye (and wallet) of the consumer. If they can make one another happy, why worry?
Eventually, true quality and photographic genius rises to the top. In the meantime, remember it's not always polite to snicker at someone else's effort to learn and experiment.
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