We have discussed at considerable length the concept of memes or if you prefer the connotations of images.  The most obvious lesson in all of this is that we cannot escape our biology.  It’s all in our genes – with the wonderful paradoxical caveat that the closer you look towards identifying those genes, the more the very concept becomes fuzzy and the gene disappears.  Still we are certainly very complex, and our ability to relate with an image and to associate it with a reality is deeply imbedded in a intertwined network of biology, physics, chemist, neurology, and ultimately psychology. 

It is never-the-less not a contradiction or paradox to believe that we can understand ourselves and in the present case understand the meaning of photography.  The fact that we are using the very computer that we are trying to understand, namely our brains, presents no real obstacles.

So let’s consider a very simple question, namely, why we can relate to a black and white image as expressing reality, even though we see in color?  And I should say from the start that I am conjecturing here – although I am fairly certain that there is a huge body of scientific literature on this very topic.

You will remember the image of Albert Einstein in our discussion of memes and the curious question of why he is wearing his wife’s coat.  Is the picture in your mind as Albert Einstein, your meme, in color or in black and white?  We had no problem recognizing this black and white image of Einstein as Einstein.  Similarly we would have no problem recognizing a color picture of Einstein as Einstein.  It is even the case that if we were to Photoshop an Einstein picture with weird, say psychedelic, colors that we would still associate this image with our meme entitled “Albert Einstein.”  So we conclude that the essential information that codes our meme is structural and black and white.  Color is unnecessary and in the case of the weirdly colored image can be a bit distracting, perhaps requiring a few more fractions of a second to gain recognition.

So in a sense we can argue that black and white is capable of carrying all of the necessary form information.  You might even argue that it is the fundamental form and for that reason we see in a black and white photograph some kind of purity.  This, perhaps, arises from the way in which vision evolved.  At the very least color can be quite confounding.  Working with modern digital cameras gives you the binary option of shall I stay in black and white, thereby focusing on form, light, and contrast or shall I add the very profoundly dominant element of color.  With an intensely colored image it’s often quite difficult to get your mind to focus on anything else.

That said, our eyes can crave color.  And certainly color can provide a very beautiful and dominant component to a photograph.  This is perhaps illustrated by the fact that quite often when one is working on a black and white image, we have the sense that something is missing and we can add that something by miserly adding just a bit of color, the fine subtle shades of toning.  In this process one often has the sense that the image is “meant” to be toned sepia or green or blue.  Of course, that is a very subjective sense.

So in this small bit of conjecture, we perhaps have the roots of a theory of why black and white photography is so appealing.  We see it as an art form that is essentially pure and unconfounded by color.  We see that it codes all the information about forms to appeal to our societal memes, that is to take on meaning and emotion.

I was discussing the work of Narinder Nanu with a colleague, and he suggested that I should really take a look at the photographic work of Raghu Rai.  This proved to be excellent advice and a wonderful adventure.  There is a very unique quality and vision to Rai’s work.  He was born in 1942 and became a photographer in 1965.  He joined the staff of the New Delhi publication “The Statesman” in 1966.  Ten years later he became a freelance photographer and in 1977 became a protégé of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who appointed Rai to “Magnum Photos.”  Rai was also Director of Photography for “India Today,” from 1982-1992.  He has published several books, most famously “Reflections in Colour“ and “Reflections in Black and White.”

You can see some of Raghu Rai’s stunning work at Aicon Gallery on the web.  Probably his most famous image is that of an unknown child victim being buried after the Bhopal gas disaster.  In researching Rai’s images, I have found quite a few that I find wonderful and would call favorites.  The first is “The Day Before – Ayodhya, 6 Dec. 1992.”  The picture is perfect technically.  The density is exact, and the morning fog adds just a bit of mystery.  And then there is the subject matter, a sadhu giving an offering to a passerby and then, of course, there is the baboon.  It’s just so magical.  And then there is “Cloud Series 7, 2010.”  I have to say that I have never seen a picture quite like thisand never quite seen light like this, which divides a picture both horizontally and vertically into light and dark.  This truly speaks to a master’s vision.

It’s been an intense day at the office, and I have been looking for some peace and serenity.  And I am repeatedly drawn to a wonderful picture from Narinder Nanu of  AFP/Getty Images.  The picture was taken on June 7, 2013 and shows a Sikh devotee immersed in the holy water reservoir at the Golden Temple, the Harmandir Sahib or the abode of God.  In Amritsar, India this is the holiest of places for the Sikhs.

I pretty much like everything about this photograph starting with the subject matter.  There is no doubt what it is about, devotion and inner peace.  The colors are quite wonderful.  Just intense enough to indicate the steaminess of the day.  And in this context, the way in which the sky is washed out doesn’t bother me, which it usually does.  Here it adds a dreamy effect. The angle is really wonderful.  You don’t expect a picture like this to be taken from water level, but in doing so it really adds to the intimacy and creates the sense that the temple is floating.  The way that the devote’s face is lit from the side adds a tone of mystery and sharp intensity.  He is effectively illuminated both physically and spiritually by the light of the temple.  The way that the image of the temple reflects in undulating ripples is magnificent and adds a real sense of dynamic motion to the image.  Oh, and did I mention the perfect use of the golden rule of thirds?In my opinion, this is a great photograph!

Figure 1 – George Wallace Attempting to block integration at the University of Alabamaand being confronted by U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, fifty years ago today. From the Wikimediacommons and the archives of the LOC and in the public domain.

We have discussed at some length the iconic image of the Turkish woman in red, how she became a meme, and how she rapidly rose to worldwide internet status.  Well just as her memetic stature was starting to fade, we were greeted today by new images from Istanbul, these of riot police emptying Taksim Square in a blaze of tear gas and water cannon.

Well, even keeping away from the specifics of the politics, there’s a lot of interesting aspects to this.  The goal of the opposition is always to create memes to appeal to the common psyche.  The goal of those in power is what?  To try very hard not to create memes?  Or is it to create the meme of the iron fist?  Either way, historically this fails.  I vividly remember my political science teacher in college remarking that the only legitimate wielder of power in a society is the government, but each time they use that power against the citizenry they diminish it.

Images of today’s police offensive in Istanbul is a very recognizable meme. The oppression of lawful demonstrations in Turkey seems all too familiar to other squares and other crackdowns.  indeed, you can argue that we are watching the genesis or reinforcement of a meme.  We have seen this play before and ultimately we know how it will end.

And then, as if that is not enough, we have NBC reporter Richard Engel broadcasting live from Taksim Square wearing a gas mask.  What is the subliminal message of this –   that it has become unsafe to breath the very air that is our human birthright, or that repression has forced us to inhabit the dark subterranean places frequented by rats and moles?  At some level it is certainly that freedom of expression is not squashed, but ultimately triumphant.  I apologize if I am being melodramatic.  But the Engel image is so bizarre as to become surreal.  The meaning is complex and subtle.  But it is powerful stuff.

And finally, consider Turkish Woman in Red in the context of Figure 1.  This is an image from the United States Library of Congress and shows Alabama Governor George Wallace barring entry to the University of Alabama by African American students.  Here he is confronted by United States Attornery General Nicholas Katzenbach.  The image was taken fifty years ago today.