Color in Turkey

Color in a man made setting is often not as beautiful as in nature. However colors often draw the eye, and tell a story by themselves. The story of this picture is interesting, as it is the story of a young girl traveling across the world, photographing her travels. This picture was taken in Turkey, along a dock. The colors create a curious optical effect as they fade into the distance, deceiving the eye into thinking the chairs continue into eternity. Psychologist Nicholas Humphries talks about color anarchy and how manufactured color can lose its meaning when compared to colors in nature. Here in the chairs there is no meaning; however there is a sense of life, energy, and exuberance to these chairs(Fletcher 2001: p.55). Color may tell a story about this place. Just as Fletcher mentions in his chapter on color there are often associations in each culture which give meaning to color. Red in the American Flag, Blue being the color of death in China and saffron orange worn by Buddhist priests in Thailand all have special meaning in those specific locations (Fletcher 2001). Perhaps these colors also have meaning here in Turkey, symbolizing Turkish values within each dark green, and light blue.

Another interesting dynamic of this picture in particular is that it was taken with the intention of it being art. If the chairs were monochromatic, would the picture still hold the same appeal? Perhaps at that time, this picture would simply be chairs by a dock, an interesting picture, but not as interesting as the curiosity which confronts us in the colored chairs. Turkey has a history of crafting brightly colored rugs and ceramics, so it is possible that these chairs have a tie to the history of Turkey. As Piet Zwart said, “Colour is a creative element, not a trimming”. Perhaps the chairs are there to display the colors’ and not the other way around.