The Meaning of Colour in Photographs

One theory which can explains how photographs are read is the 'Theory of Semiotics', this is based on 'semiosis' and is the relationship between a sign, object and meaning where the sign represents the object in the mind of an interpreter, in this case, the viewer of the photograph. According to Charles Morris, who was an American semiotician and philosopher, human action involves signs and meanings in three ways;

The Perception Stage: The person becomes aware of a sign

The Manipulation Stage: The person interprets the sign and decides how to respond to it

The Consummation Stage: The person responds

This can be applied to photography as it demonstrates how viewers go through the process of responding to an image they see for the first time, from viewing the image and noticing the signs, to bringing their views/knowledge to the image to deciding how to respond to the image.

An important factor when reading/responding to an image is the use of colour. Let's take a look at photographer, Martin Parr, for example, who was recognised for his early black and white works and it was only in 1984 he shifted to colour photography.

This image (above) uses vibrant and bright colours to create an image which is quintessentially British, as noted by the seagulls, the Union Jack and the beach location in the background.

This image would be viewed and responded to completely differently if it were presented in black and white, the viewer may see this scene as dull and depressive and take an inaccurate reading of what the image is really trying to portray.

Another photograph by Martin Parr also cleverly makes use of colour:

This photograph (above) still uses vibrant colours, to contrast to what is being photographed, when you first look at the image and see the signs, it tells you a narrative of a dirty seaside resort, as noted by the overflowing bin. However, the use of colour connotes that this is still a happy scene as once again, the image in black and white would imply to the viewer that the holiday goers are not enjoying themselves as this is a 'last resort', however the use of colour tells the viewer that not all is a bad as it seems, and it is just that the bin is overflowing because the resort is so busy and the couple to the right have found the one available spot to have lunch.

These examples clearly demonstrate how important the use of colour is within photography as it determines how a viewer is going to interpret the image and the narrative which it contains. Therefore, colour can be seen as a vital determiner when producing an image as to how the photographer wants the photograph to be portrayed.