#485. A few cheeky yellows*

By Paul Perton | Opinion

Jun 06

I guess we’ve all got a pet project, something we never work especially hard at, just collect images in the hope that one day, we’ll have enough for a Web gallery, or maybe even a gallery show.

 

I’ve had two such projects going for a while now. The first started back when I got my first DSLR (A D70) and saw me start to collect photographs that featured the colour yellow in one way or another.

 

Blinds - Nüremburg

Blinds – Nüremburg

 

Abandoned - Cape Town

Abandoned – Cape Town

 

Golden Gai - Tokyo

Golden Gai – Tokyo

 

Street - Tokyo

Street – Tokyo

 

Street - Tokyo

Street – Tokyo

 

The idea went off like an alcohol fuelled Concorde – the usual enthusiasm any new project enjoys and I collected what I thought was a fair number of pictures quite quickly. A decade later, my interest remains, but the harvesting of suitable images has slowed somewhat.

 

Looking through my collection and choosing images for this post was much harder than I’d imagined – mainly because I’d grossly over estimated how many I’d tagged “yellow” to start with.

 

Harajuku - Tokyo

Harajuku – Tokyo

 

Street - Tokyo

Street – Tokyo

 

Short-time hotel - Tokyo

Short-time hotel – Tokyo

 

Crossing - Geneva

Crossing – Geneva

 

Laundry - Venice

Laundry – Venice

 

No one city is any better than another – I just shoot what I see (and sometimes notice there’s yellow in it).

 

Sigh.

 

Untitled, Paris

Untitled, Paris

 

Untitled, Varanasi

Untitled, Varanasi

 

Parnie Street, Glasgow

Parnie Street, Glasgow

 

Bathing huts, Muizenberg

Bathing huts, Muizenberg

 

Security shutter, George Town

Security shutter, George Town

 

The second project, I’ll keep a secret for now. Who knows I might even turn it into something special one day?

 

* Cheeky in modern-day parlance is just that. For example – out with your pals having a few ales and at the end of the evening, one of the imbibers suggests a “Cheeky Nando’s” – translation; “Let’s stop by the nearest Portuguese-style peri peri chicken fast food outlet (Nando’s) and grab an unplanned extra hot chicken and chips take away before heading home.”

 

Cheeky yellows? Unplanned and often discovered in a photograph shot for an entirely different reason, but later found found to contain a dash of said bright chromium.

 

Enjoy the rest of these selections:

 

Café tables, Paris

Café tables, Paris

 

Shop window, Udaipur

Shop window, Udaipur

 

Street, Singapore

Street, Singapore

 

Mail box, Bo Kaap

Mail box, Bo Kaap

 

Shutters, Singapore

Shutters, Singapore

 

No parking, Singapore

No parking, Singapore

 

Untitled, Tokyo

Untitled, Tokyo

 

Apartments, Grasse

Apartments, Grasse

  • pascaljappy says:

    Wonderful, Paul!

    I love the range of yellows and the colour contrast you used to create strong compositions. Also, the very idea of long-term projects is a great one. One of mine is cars in their natural setting (ie an e-type in a Kent village …) and your results have re-ingited my desire to continue this!

    It’s amazing how difficult it actually is to find photographs in which one colour plays an important role like that. I tried to find a few from our recent Paris walks together but couldn’t come up with many … most are B&W and many others in colour fail to isolate the yellow as you have done. Here are attempts, not entirely successful.

    DSC09694 DSC00101 DSC00247 DSC00577

  • Jeffrey Horton says:

    Really enjoyed this, thanks for posting!

  • Mike says:

    I remember you shooting the yellow canoes at Sedgfield all those years ago. Must have been one of your first on what has turned out to be a very long yellow brick road. 10’out of 10 for perseverance.

  • Lucy March says:

    What a wonderful set! Each image stands on its own but the pleasure in viewing them is greatly compounded by seeing them in aggregate. I look forward to seeing the next project!

  • Michael Demeyer says:

    Really found the idea interesting and the collection of images excellent. Thanks for this one! Primed the pump.

  • peterv says:

    Excellent images and great text, tanks for sharing!

  • philberphoto says:

    Fascinating, Paul! And brave, too, because being associated with “yellow”, well.. you know… I looked into my own recent pics, and not much yellow. At least not much where it actually “makes” the pciture, rather than just “being in it”. It means I am not yellow, I guess…
    See how inspiring your thread is, Paul?

  • Leonard says:

    I can see the museum gallery now.

    Brill!

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