Memory needs color in order to be vivid (Mirzoeff 83). Nan Goldin, a photographer, said that she was relying on her photographs of her family and friends to keep her memory of them alive. Goldin's skill as a photographer lies in part in finding the intense colors in everyday lives that might otherwise be depicted in the grainy black-and-white style favored by most other documentary photographers (Mirzoeff 83).
This photo Vivienne in the green dress, New York, 1980, places Goldin's places her subject against a green wall, finding color contrasts in a red watch and blue radio to provide a lesson in the effects of complementary color (Mirzoeff 83).
While this example is not directly related to Horton's article on color for the web, I think it is instructive. Goldin seems to adhere to Horton's eight uses of color in her photograph (Horton 167). Perhaps, Horton's advice is applicable to more than web design.
Those eight uses of color are:
1. To direct attention
2. To speed search
3. To aid recognition
4. To show organization
5. To rate or quantify
6. To represent color itself
7. To attract and please users
8. To arouse an emotion
Works Cited: Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "The Age of Photography," In An Introduction to Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 1999. 65-90.
Horton, William K. "Color in Icons," In The Icon Book. 1994. 167.
I found this really interesting and so true. Everyone has a similar memory, but whenever I think of my grandmother I think of her wearing a starched white apron that she always wore while she worked around the house. To me that white apron signified organization and comfort. I like that you are applying the eight uses of color to photography and memory, this is a great correlation.
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