The Meaning of Colour - Diptychs

The meaning of colour… with Diptychs

A diptych refers to just what it is, It’s two images that work well together to see something from another perspective on the same subject. In a sense the images can tell a story. Colour is associated with the Diptychs produced for this assignment. The colours selected include; orange, red, yellow and blue.

Orange – Diptych

Image Folio - Orange

Orange unlike similar colours such as red can indicate a number of meanings from creativity, stimulation or darker oranges like the image above depicts, ‘thirst for action.’ (About) The images chosen have been used to portray the aftermath of the Tornado that some Townsville residents and businesses faced. The image featured on the right shows a lady with a ‘desire’ while the left image depicts a damaged shop-front. The ladies desire to see action may be for the shop to be restored to its former state.

The images were captured at different moments in time. The shop-front was captured the morning after the Tornado using an exposure time of 1/100 in overcast conditions which provided for nice even lighting allowing for a low ISO of 100.

The second image was captured inside a building at a slow shutter speed of 1/60, to compensate for the lack of lighting the ISO was boosted to 500 well below the usual recommended maximum value of 800.  

Red – Diptych

Image Folio - Red

Red is generally seen as meaning danger, strength or determination. However red is generally accepted by most people as ‘fast,’ likewise it is also seen in many types of signage. (Color Wheel Pro) Red on a traffic-signal or stop-sign indicates to traffic and pedestrians to stop otherwise face danger; likewise a flashing red light can mean danger. The diptych has been produced to show the irony between ‘fast’ and ‘stop’. 

The above images where captured during the daytime and red stood out as it’s highly visible. Both images were captured at midday which meant a high shutter speed was required to eliminate the abundance of light.

The above images used no filter other than a UV filter used predominantly for protecting the lense. However it may have been beneficial to use a ND filter.

 Yellow - Diptych

Image Folio - Yellow

Yellow is a stimulating colour that can range from darker shades similar to Gold to bright yellows like that of sunflowers or roses. Yellow is often seen as one of the colours of autumn and stimulates the memory as well as communication. (Sensational Color) Looking deeper yellow is often seen around hospital wards to show joy or to represent getting well. The image above draws on what yellow roses signify, ‘Friendship.’ (ProFlowers)

 

Unlike the other diptychs the image of the yellow sunflower was taken at sunrise. That provided nice intense light from one direction focused on the front of the flower. This allowed for a side-on cross section image to be captured. With the source of light mostly coming from one direction the flower stands out from the background.

The bottom image was a literal interpretation of the colour meaning. It was captured under trees in a park setting that meant scattered lighting was dominant. This proved a challenge when finding the best angle to allow for all the notes to stay in focus.

Blue - Diptych

Image Folio - Blue

 

Blue is a colour that is predominantly the favourite among both the male and female genders. Blue is generally associated with the sky and ocean. It prompts feelings of; calmness, trust, loyalty and faith. (Sensational Color) The diptych has been developed to show, ‘calmness,’ ‘trust’ and ‘faith.’ The calmness of the water can be seen as the boat travels through while a rocky surface is visible in both images to prompt trust and faith.

The images were captured during overcast conditions that allowed for filtered sunlight to spread evenly throughout the frame. Both the images use the rule of thirds. The boat is centred on the upper-thirds while the rock wall on the left is centred at around the same third – which draws the viewer eyes to the wide-view across to the wider view of the right image.

The diptych also flips the ocean and atmosphere as the left image’s waterline lines-up with the mountain range in the second image.