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Friday, August 08, 2008

Couleur du Jour

Now if you really dig, you will, of course, find a lot of information about yellow. But, at the risk of offending yellow lovers and yellow aficionados, if you really look at the literature, I would not say it is a color in the league of red, of which I have written - see here.
Yellow has a number of negative connotations. We have yellow journalism. It is the color of cowardice, jealousy and associated with aging (paper yellowed with age) - anyone looking to market teeth yellower? On the positive side, yellow shines particularly in nature - yellow glow of sunlight, sunflowers, bananas and canary melons. In music we have Donovan's Mellow Yellow and Yellow Submarine by the Beatles.
In clothing, I think yellow is difficult to carry. Historically, it has been considered tacky and gaudy. Personally, I am not a big fan of yellow clothing. From reading current fashion articles, however, yellow is the couleur du jour in 2008. 
The photo of the woman in the yellow dress has been in my collection since 2005 (prior to the start of this blog) - collecting photos of people dressed in yellow is a slow, incremental process. The yellow dress was so unusual and striking, I photographed it just for that reason, not knowing if I would ever have any real use for it. A television program was being filmed. More recently I photographed the women with the yellow skirt in the late afternoon yellow light. This diptych is my entire yellow photo archives.
But in the end, in the card game of life, yellow trumps all others easily as the color of the sun, giver of light and life, and the color of summer - in more ways than one, the couleur du jour ...

Note about yellow: Yellow is one of the three primary process colors (subtractive) in printing (CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow plus black) but is a secondary color in the world of light (additive) and monitors - RGB (red, green, blue).

10 comments:

X!ne said...

Don't forget Coldplay's song "Yellow". One of the most romantic songs. Yellow is not my favorite color but looks great on some people.

Anonymous said...

Yellow may be also related to our ability to visually enjoy the small details around us (and from time to time, take photographs)...

"The eyeballs are covered with a tough, white skin known as the sclera, home to the retina–the part of the eye that collects light and images and provides pictures of the world. Within the retina is the macular lutea, which registers central vision.

Macular lutea is Latin for “yellow spot,” named because it is quite literally yellow in color–its vibrant hue coming from its high concentration of lutein and zeaxanthin, yellow pigments found in a range of vegetables and fruits.

When the macular lutea is damaged, a person begins to lose central vision, resulting in only a peripheral view of the world.
...
Scientists are also finding that eating more foods with lutein and zeaxanthin may offer protection.

The pigments are found in yellow squash, corn, tangerines and persimmons. They are also present in spinach, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, peas and rhubarb, although the stronger green pigments hide their yellowness.
"

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/04/health/he-ursell4
"

Anonymous said...

There is also the "Yellow Phase" fertile women go through every month... (this phase may also includes the ultra sensitive PMS days)...

"The luteal phase is the part of the cycle that starts at ovulation and ends the day before the next period. The luteal phase is named after the corpus luteum (Latin: "yellow body"), a structure that grows on the surface of the ovary where a mature egg was released at ovulation."

Anonymous said...

I'm not a fan of yellow color.
(my favourite color is blue)
There are many"yellow". Are you ready?
Jaune d'or;bouton d'or;jaune paille
jaune citron; jaune canari; jaune mimosa;jaune d'or; jaune ambre;
jaune safran; jaune moutarde; jaune orange; jaune ocre....
Ah!!!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Not a fan of yellow as a colour to wear at all. Yellow, Coldplay I agree great song. Yellow should only be seen in the fields of Provence, or Van Gogh paintings. Otherwise I'm with you, Yellow peril. Nver for clothes. Interesting post.

Anonymous said...

what about mellow yellow?

tina said...

i think yellow is a weird colour. sometimes i like it. sometimes i hate it.
cool blog!

Anonymous said...

Yeyy, thanks for the tribute for Yellow, it's my favorite color!!! It reminds me of sunshine :)

Especially for rainy days :D

http://www.xanga.com/SushiMonkee/656670036/for-rainy-days.html

Brian Dubé said...

z!ne - tx for coldplay addition. keeps us up to date.

anon - tx for info. and mellow yellow is mentioned in the posting.

tina - true

sushimonkee - a yellow lover. we need that here for a balanced view in the war on yellow. LOL

Kim said...

Brian, do you notice the yellow reflection on the bare legs of the other person in the left hand shot? Looks like betadine leftover from surgery or a jaundiced child. I remember in a color theory class I had years ago the instructor pointed out that yellow for a room color affects most people negatively and that couples with yellow kitchens and bedrooms fought the most. Also, in fashion merchandising I've heard it said that yellow and orange clothing can be found in abundance on sale racks in countries where the population is predominantly Caucasian because clothing in these two hues are considered the least flattering to Caucasian skin tones.

Right now I have a vase of huge bright yellow sunflowers with yellow centers on the kitchen table. And, when I was responsible for buying supplies and equipment for a school program and purchased construction paper supplies for the year, I always purchased a double quantity of yellow because it always was used up the fastest by all the teachers. It's a wonderful color, and I particularly love it in combination with gray, myself. Closing thought: did anyone bring up "I Am Curious Yellow"?
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo