The Self Soothing Visual Pleasure Of Photography
Images of colors and patterns can calm the nervous system. Flooding your visual senses, can transform your emotions.
Visual Intuition
In the artful expression of photography, we each extract certain visual features based on our intuition between what is pleasing or displeasing. Here we are exploring the relationship between emotions to images, with the focus of designing a method to self-soothe during emotionally challenging moments or events in life.
Photography And Color Psychology
In photography and color psychology, color tones and saturation play important roles. Chromotherapy dates back to ancient European and Asian culture, the psychology of color to heal, today it can be found alternative medicine. Color is such an integral part of photography, knowing that specific colors convey specific psychological feelings and evoke certain moods can be used to provide more calming environments.
When it comes to the psychology of color and how it impacts the way a viewer perceives an image a photographer will often use color to convey a mood in a photograph. Cool toned colors are green, blue and purple. Warm toned colors are red, yellow and orange. Cool tones tend to emit feelings of tranquility and calmness while warm tones run the gamut from anger to warmth depending on their saturation. Different cultures view color in different ways so response is no universal but individual.
Color Psychology In The Western World
Black: Power~Stability~Grief
White: Purity~Cleanliness~Innocence
Red: Speed~Anger~Love
- Red is associated with stimulation as it triggers endorphins in the brain.
Yellow: Happiness~Optimism
- Yellow spurs creative thoughts being mentally stimulating by jump starting the nervous system.
Blue: Calm~Tranquility
- Blue causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming.
Green: Nature~Growth~Harmony
- Green is the predominant color in the natural world makes it a soothing color to view, providing a tranquil psychological impact.
Orange: Fun~Energy
- Orange tends to stimulate activity and one’s appetite, it creates excitement. If it leans more toward the yellow, it’s more tranquil.
Purple: Royalty~Wealth
- Purple can be both uplifting and calming depending on its hue and saturation.
Reaction to color is instantaneous and it’s a powerful psychological tool. It’s used to influence what we buy, to produce calm, work more energetically, and send positive or negative feelings.
Self-Soothing
The self soothing visual pleasure of photography can be applied to every area of your life. Apply the knowledge to your daily life by creating soothing environments that provide a foundation for your emotional stability. If taking photo’s of colors and patterns help calm you down, snap away. Or use color in your environment to calm and collect yourself. Collect images to display that take you in the direction you most want to be in.
Take a moment now and ask yourself, how do you self-soothe? How can you soothe yourself in passive ways that may have profound ongoing effects? Let me know, comment below.
Leave a Reply