Color Is Power - Robert Walker Essays Examples

Robert Walker is one of the brightest representatives of contemporary urban photography. In his book “Color is Power” he represents the series of his works that show specific beauty of big city life in the invisible elements and shapes that appear to be shown in absolutely new and unexpected light.
Special interest represents the photographs of New York. The photographer has a long and complicated relationship with this city and the love and hate can be felt in the strict shapes and blurred colors of the tabloids. The author usually makes accent on color and shape forgetting about the drama present on the photo. However, the city creates the deep sense of photos itself with the unbelievable number of advertisements and people in the middle of unrealistic colors, faces and slogans. The sky color is a perfect contrast to the urban environment. The juxtaposition of nature and civilization is present in several photos. The sky glassy that mirrors in the car window together with the huge colored banner is a perfect and impressive demonstration of the big city atmosphere.
The theme of urbanism is also present in the photos of New York streets that indirectly demonstrate the contrast between the real and media worlds. The big colored banners with super models cover the city walls where nobody is watching them. The pale colors of people’s clothes and their faces look unrealistic when compares to the images that catch our attention in a moment you see the photo. The idealistic life and the everyday reality live together in the streets of this outstanding city.
Walker perfectly feels the atmosphere of the city – his photographs are full of bright colors. The dominant color is red- the color of power, of love and passion, the color of life. This color is present everywhere in the city and the photographer perfectly delivers this impression to the audience. The red colored restaurants, cars, advertisements and even road signs create the necessary dynamics that allows the audience to feel the high tempos of life in the big city.
Moreover, the usage of colors and shapes gives photographer the ability to create the favorable contrast with the photos made in small streets and neighborhoods. Here, Walker chooses rare, unexpected colors. This can be addressed to the past times when cities were more colored with multiple shades of blue, green, orange or violet. The absence of multiple advertisements and big photos on banners creates the atmospheres of intimacy and closeness. People pretend to be closer o each other; their moves are richer and full of grace. The shapes are less strict and therefore photographer creates relaxed atmosphere. The multiple details that can be researched for hours allow the observer to seek for a deeper hidden sense in the image.
Special place is given to Times Square photos that show the changing and unsure character of contemporary life. One of the most visited places on the planet is full with the images that do not carry any serious information or deep sense. The photographs show constant movement and sometimes it is possible to see the lonely figures that got out of this rhythm. All bright colors are hiding the absence of serious cultural weight of the place that is regarded by the photographer as Gothic cathedral for medieval people. However, here the honored manuscripts and images are replaced with the plastic-like baby faces and empty eyes of fake beauty that will be forgotten a moment after their removal.
It is necessary to underline the specific beauty of photos made in the other cities. The change of the atmosphere is felt in the colors that the author is depicting. This can be explained by the personal feelings and impression Walker received while experiencing such countries as Canada or Poland. The photos made in Canada also have a lot of bright colors. However, here ice blue represents a bright contrast to red color used for American photos. The virus of Times Square is also present on the big streets of Canadian cities. But here it is possible to see something else, smoother shapes of painted women on the posters, the soft plastic of vocalists underline the atmosphere of the advertised musicals.
The unbelievable talent of the photographer is seen in the way he uses colors and shapes, the surface he chooses for the image. Moreover, a serious role here plays the juxtaposition of real world and the unrealistic version of everyday that can be seen everywhere in the streets of the big cities. This is the way Walker represents the contemporary life of people and cities and the place of photography in this world.