Photography is one of the most powerful forms of art, like colour, it has a very wide range to talk about but the style I have chosen to study is street photography.
With photography and the power of editing, some of the most amazing stories can be captured and available for the world to see. Photography can be as simple as taking a photo of some flowers and to want to take that photo, you must feel some sort of emotion to what you’re capturing.
I’ve chosen to study these three specific photographs by Alex Webb because of how beautifully the colour blue has been captured. Unlike the blue tones talked about with Picasso’s Blue Period, these shades of blue give me a sense of happiness and excitement. It’s the same shade of blue that you think of when imagining blue skies on a summer’s day. Webb’s style of photography intrigues me because making the colours seem so powerful must come down to how the photos are edited. These colours have so much saturation compared to the everyday world we’re used to which makes this photography style so refreshing and nostalgic.
Saul Leiter is a good example of capturing emotions through weather. A lot of Leiter’s work can be seen with rain or just dull weather. Some of his street photography will capture dull and dreary colours but will always consist of a brightly coloured object or vehicle which draws the audience in and increases the want to explore further. A good example of this is ‘Snow’, having the pop of colour directly behind the main subject of the photograph, which is very dark and dull, draws your eyes straight towards it. Another example of this technique is ‘Red Umbrella’. In this photo, the subject, also dressed in dull colours, is holding a very vibrant red umbrella, this being the only colour in the photo.
References
Alex Webb: La Calle. independent-photo.com/news/alex-webb-la-calle/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.
Haus Der Photographie. www.kehrerverlag.com/en/saul-leiter-retrospektive. Accessed 2 Nov. 2023.