The Colour Red

“If I don’t have red, I use blue..”  “If there is some red spot on one of my paintings it is unlikely to be the heart of the work. The painting was done regardless of it. You could remove the red and still the painting would be there. But in Matisse’s work it is inconceivable that you could remove a spot of red, no matter how small without the entire painting instantly collapsing.’ Pablo Picasso

I have always loved the work of Matisse, each colour he adds to his canvas is meant to be there, every brush stroke is intentional.  In photography, if we treat our images like a canvas, we see which elements are essential and which are distractions.

While in Paris, I choose the theme of Red. It is a warm and strong colour that draws our eye, so gives a subject emphasis which means our eye lands on this element first. So what is in the Symbolism of a colour? Red has many meanings, in many cultures.. In ancient times it was rare and expensive to produce so imbues qualities of magic and power. It is the colour of fire and blood, it symbolises energy and life. It stands out before all other colours, therefore it is the international symbol for stop. In Asian countries it is an auspicious colour that brings happiness, good fortune or luck. In Africa it is linked with mourning.

This image was taken looking down onto the walkway beside the Seine River. The ladies were walking their dogs together and at this moment the dogs decided to have a play fight. No dogs were injured in this photo. In post processing I have decreased the saturation for most of the image, but increased the saturation in the red tones. I approach every image individually and instinctively so the processing can take anywhere between 3 days to 3 months. After I finish I like to leave it a day or so to come back with fresh eyes.