Thoughts On Artistic Direction

Color Vision Deficiency: Thoughts On Artistic Direction
By Demarcus O’Dell - 011.30.21

If you want to be a photographer; one of the most important questions to ask yourself is; “What am I looking for through this craft?” If you are simply “trying it out,”amiss is any outside pressure to find  success in any specific way by that of someone or some force  who has a standard set. You may plan to remain a hobbyist, possibly a purist, or a working professional, in any case; the amount of boundaries in your way are determined by you, and your ability to be open minded, goal oriented, and yourself.

I was asked recently about my thoughts on an individual with a reduced ability to distinguish between certain colors; whose interest lies in becoming a photographer. In addition, they questioned; solely making images in black and white or two toned as opposed to color. I am very open minded and firstly thought about the approval and acceptance given to an individual with impaired color reception by the art world. Artistically speaking; the possibilities of interestingly colored fine art photographs sounded appealing, although I began to realize the initial question was about the possibility of success as a professional commercial photographer. 

Although economically, there will always be a necessity for visual advertising and people who will be eager to obtain a fruitful career by creating and distributing it; I think it is safe to assume there too, will always be people fascinated by the limitless art of photography alone . For some; the advertising and marketing industry calls you, you understand the science and the human brain.

For others; There is a love for creating images and in order to make money by doing what you love; you commit you’re time to studying, practicing advertising and marketing to coexist with your calling.

Through trial and error, experience, inspiration you can find what direction you’d like to go with photography. Foremost, you must enjoy the process, you must truly feel a natural spark of curiosity in this beginning stage. You must embrace the failures and the path on how to capture the world around you in a representative way of how you see it. If you are seeking a professional career; be excited about criticism and knowledge given to you from those more experienced. 

As you discover mistakes, preferences, tips,  tricks, and other things that you are personally drawn to through photography; you will begin to envelop a style. Style can be influenced by the way we view the world: could a person with color vision deficiency, be a successful commercial photographer? Color blindness occurs when an individual’s one or more of three cone cells (which sense color) is absent or altered. Most commonly; red and green are difficult to distinguish between but in some cases blue and yellow. 

When advertising; colors are important and communicate at an emotional level. Forty two percent of consumers base their opinions on website’s design solely on it’s color, fifty two precent are detoured by inferior color designs, eighty five percent chose which products to buy based off of color, and ninety percent of impulse purchases by consumers are based on color. 

In terms of commercial photography or specific instances; a person with color blindness may have a need or a want to deliver and image that is color correct. In my research it seems relatively simple to tweak colors in post production applications. Of course, working with a crew on a production which contains; a set designer, stylist, makeup artist, and a second pair of eyes on your project will insure colors are working. 

The amount photographers in the world who succeed by ‘going by the book,’ ‘by ‘not facing any physical conditions’ may be large, as so the amount that do not succeed with the same potential. Some of us struggle to find something to separate ourselves and end up in a grey pool of photographers, not growing exponentially.

Building a strong understanding of how to express an idea will take you far. Honing the skill of lighting should be any professional photographer’s goal, we mustn’t do everything ourselves; being proficient with color grading and post production are skillsets all their own and to master; time and dedication are required as well.

Embrace what makes you different and don’t settle for the grey pool.  Good luck, you have a very interesting story ahead. Come back here for more!