The colour white

If you go to bed tonight, wear a white pajama, for the ancient Greeks knew already it will ensure you nice dreams.

Thinking of white as a symbol, it’s interesting that we in the West believe it’s the right colour for brides to wear, whereas in for instance Vietnam and China, it’s the colour for mourning, and in India the colour to be worn by widows (brides wear red). ‘Our’ angels wear white dresses and also the ancient Persians believed all gods were dressed in white only. Holding a white flag is a universal symbol for truce, but being ‘white hot’ could mean you are in a state of intense anger.

Both in symbolism as well as visually, white creates contrast, that much is clear. Used in combination with other colouls, like red, makes them look brighter and really stand out. This is the reason I focussed on white as one of the colours during my last trip to India.

Indian boys wearing traditional white 'kurta pajama's'

Hindu women praying in the holy water of river Ganges, Varanasi

Mamtu, a Rajasthani girl wearing a white 'dupatta' (headscarf)

Hindu women praying in the holy water of river Ganges, Varanasi

Hindu women praying in the holy water of river Ganges, Varanasi

Returning home after performing religious rituals using clay pots.

The other images focussing on white can be seen here >

I am working on several ‘colour series’ right now. Images in blue, pink and orange can already be seen online. More images will be added soon.

This entry was posted on donderdag, april 28th, 2011 at 16:14. It is filed under India and tagged with Asia, Ganges, India, Mirjam Letsch, Mirjam Letsch Photography, photography, river, symbol, symbolism, Varanasi, white. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.