Lomographic Color Studies: White

Before anything else, is the color white, really a color? What's the purpose of a hue-less color if it can't be anything else? Whatever science may tell you, we've all grown accustomed that white is a color -- just like how we expect it to be part of the crayon box or palette of paint.

White is the true color of sunlight, and it is found through its reflection in the snow, clouds, smoke, milk, and limestone. The Alpine peaks wear the snow, just like how the world is capped by the polar glaciers.

When we think of white, we think of it as the opposite of black and darkness. It's an antithesis by representing itself as the color of goodness, purity, innocence, divinity, respect. However, white paradoxically symbolizes emptiness as well -- like the Arctic desert or sleet, a blank sheet of paper, or a never ending the stream of rice grains. There's nothing. While black represents mostly of 'the end', white may just be 'the beginning. Like a bride's wedding gown, or a freshly hatched egg.

There is a sense of calm and unidentifiable feeling of mellow optimism in white.

Cumulus clouds are signifiers for a pleasant day. The freshly pressed laundry and the perfect white shirt instantly makes any human more optimistic to start his grind, White sneakers for any outfit. Feather-stuffed pillows for a good night's sleep. Lillies for the young woman. Vanilla for any sweet occasion. Pearls for timeless fashion. The sea foam or crest from every ebb and flow of the waves.

White lies have never hurt anyone, or at the very least never meant to. Oh, we can only try to be as good.

2017-09-02 #culture #white #color-photography #lomographic-color-studies