A few thoughts about color

Greetings!

Just a few mid-November thoughts about color for this entry. The changing light of our days in California brings to mind the role of light in color. The mid afternoon light on our sunny days is nothing short of enchanting, which makes our occasional rainy afternoons that much more dramatic.

How are books on color organized? There are some recent titles that focus on the cultural history of specific colors, such as:

Black : the history of a color / Michel Pastoureau.
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c2009.

This book has the following subject headings:

Black.
Color -- Psychological aspects -- History.
Color -- Social aspects -- History.
Symbolism of colors -- History.
Black in art.

I was thinking about the role of color in photography today when I was sharing a 1925 publication with a colleague and we were looking at the fashion photos. He made the observation, "But how would people go shopping from these, they are not in color."

Now, since my colleague is a whole 12 years younger than I am, he probably doesn't recall color tv being anything less than a household staple.

So I offer this question to you, readers: what has been/is the role of color photography and color television in the history of fashion? For example, some pages of the famous Godey's Lady's Book included color plates, but often one might have a black and white plate with an accompanying description.

A few other related links on this rainy Friday:

The International Colour Association: http://www.aic-colour.org/index.html

Did you know that color juggernaut Pantone has been purchased by a company with the puzzling moniker X-Rite? Have a look:

http://www.xrite.com/home.aspx