No, not the deep blue of the sky. Nor the shades of white, grey, yellow and blue in the clouds. And certainly not the creamy white of the Morecambe and Heysham Yacht Club Race Office. To see the power of colour click on the photograph to view the larger version, then put your finger over the red life-belt below the building. The blocking out of that small red shape changes the photograph significantly. It demonstrates how, in the right context, a tiny amount of strong colour has a significance well above its weight, adding richness and interest to a composition.
My photograph was a small reminder of the first time, in my teenage years, that I became aware of this effect. It was in the semi abstract painting of "Le Forte de Antibes" (1955) by Nicolas de Stael. The only version of this work that I can find on the web is on a record sleeve. Here the power of a small red square (a buoy?) is immense - cover it up with your finger and see.
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
