Red Shirt School of Photography

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The Memoirs of a Geisha movie poster uses techniques similar to the Red Shirt School of Photography to draw attention to the focal object

The Red Shirt School of Photography is a trend in photography which first became popular in the 1950s. It was pioneered by National Geographic Magazine photographers, who had subjects wear or chose subjects who wore overly colorful clothes (not necessarily of the color red, though red was preferred as it rendered best on Kodachrome film). ^[1] The earliest use of such techniques can be traced back to autochrome pioneers of the 1920s - like Gervais Courtellement - who worked on National Geographic assignments around the globe. Originally meant to describe the work of many of the National Geographic photographers of the period late 1950s - early 1960s, the term is loosely applied to photography creating images which fall into the category just described.^[2] The following quote refers to the method employed:

Even though Kodachrome was already unnaturally bright, photographers ... splashed the strongest possible colors in their pictures so that they would be more effective in print. One result was that the staff photographers - who were constantly being sent to colorful places to slake what was seen as the public's unquenching thirst for colorful scenes - would often find themselves needing more color to take advantage of the color film and would resort to placing the people in costume. ^[3]

As color photography became popular and commonplace, color frequently became an important criterion while choosing subjects to photograph, or for selecting from previously photographed images. Photographers would thus not only choose colorful scenes, but put colorfully costumed people in it to enhance the viewing experience. ^[4]

The method is especially popular in brightening up photographs with drab or earth-toned backgrounds, or to focus attention on a subject. Hence, the technique is popular mainly in landscape photography, but has use in portrait photography as well. A case in point are National Geographic photographs of the Masai people of Africa, who traditionally wear a red robe.

A still from Schindler's list, featuring the "girl in red". The cognitive focus is on the girl due to the change in color, as opposed to the soldier behind her

This method grew increasingly popular as color photography technology improved, and was spurred on by color film companies like Kodak. Such techniques received a boost with the spread of digital photography, as digital photographs can be easily enhanced by differential color saturation treatments on different parts of the image.

The technique has influenced numerous trends in contemporary photography, such as advertising photography, where it is used to highlight the advertised object in question. An extremal variation of the Red Shirt school is focal color photography, where optical and / or digital photographic filters are used to preserve color in only a single focal object or region of the photograph.

The term is sometimes also used in a deprecating sense, to convey a feeling of "set up" or tailored imagery. Such photographs have often been considered inferior, lacking originality or being non-notable.^[5] and criticism has often been targetted at National Geographic photographers in general. The following criticism against the school sums up the attitude:

National Geographic's pictures, with rare exception, were all pretty much of the picture postcard type of idealistic beauty, rather than photojournalism.^[6]

This era culminated in what critics and detractors outside the National Geographic Society called the Red Shirt School of Photography - the consistent use of red shirts, caps, and other apparel as props to brighten up photographs.

However, the Red Shirt school probably came to be associated strongly with National Geographic not just due to society policy, but also the fact that National Geographic was one of the first publications to regularly publish in color. A quote from National Geographic photographer Luis Marden:

The red shirt came to be associated with the Geographic because very few but the Geographic published color. It's easy to criticise the past - the trouble is we're doing it by today's standards.^[7]

The style should not be confused with commercial photography campaigns which highlight a color for purposes of drawing attention as well as brand association. Cases in point are Tiffany and Co.'s "blue box" advertising campaign, and The Coca Cola Company's red and white, originally hand-painted Christmas advertisement campaigns.

[edit] External links

See the National Geographic Society website for good examples of this style.

[edit] References

1. ^ National Geographic Photographer's Field Guide, A. Moldvay (1981): National Geographic Society, Washington
2. ^ National Geographic Society: 100 Years of Adventure and Discovery , C.D.B. Bryan, National Geographic Society (ISBN 0810936968)
3. ^ Ibid
4. ^ Eloquent Obsessions: Writing Cultural Criticism, J. Collins and C. Lutz, Duke University Press, 1994 (ISBN 082231472X)
5. ^ Taxonomic Grade Images, A. Arino and D. Galicia, European Network for Biodiversity Information Workshop, Natural History Museum, London, 2005
6. ^ Ed Hannigan, US Camera, 1962
7. ^ Seeing Red, November 2000, National Geographic Magazine