Meaning in the Game of Color and Light
Aesthetics of the Four Elements in the “Poetic of Water” Collection
The collection of Babak Haghi photography has created the visual space in a way which the four
elements of nature have the role of signifying by playing with the color and light. If we want to
analyze these photos by semiotic method, we can divide the photos into four categories: Three-
element photographs with a combination of air, water and soil, an object left on the shore and
placed in the line of demarcation between the two elements of soil and water. Two-element
photographs of soil and water, two-element photographs of air and water with object or body,
three-element photographs of water and soil and air with body. The common denominator of
these photos is the element of light, which causes the colors to present themselves in different
ways.
First of all, we must say that in semiotics, the main discussion is the production of meaning and
the description of the reproductive process of meaning, and the image is considered as the text.
In fact, photographic action is like enunciation, the result of which is expressed in words and
text, and the analysis of the text is done through the expression plan and the content plan;
production in the manner of photography, that is, the production of an artwork as text. The text is
important as a result of the narrative and has a dual agent: human agent and non-human agent
which is the camera. As Jean-Marie Floch states: “if from a technical point of view the
photographic image is a reflection of the artist, these are the forms of reflection that make the
mechanism of the image a significative and meaningful subject.” (Floch, 1995, p.170) It should
also be noted that the semiotics of photography is not just about visual sign, but about the
mechanisms of visual perception that are involved in the production of meaning. The photograph
is first and foremost a system of communication and has a dynamic structure. In this collection,
which shows Babak Haghi’s interest in the four natural elements, beautiful combinations with the
artist’s color taste can be seen, which also shows his visual interest. The play of color and light
and showing elements such as water, air, and soil focuses especially on the plastic aspect rather
than the visual aspect. This is the plastic aspect that is mostly producing meaning and one of its
important elements is color. For further explanation, it is necessary to mention that we have two
types of languages in an image: the image itself, which is the pictural language, and the language
of the plastic (visual) (color, direction, and position of the image on the surface, lines, and
shape). These two languages are compatible. Plastic or visual language is an expressive form for
figurative or pictural language. What stands out most in Babak Haghi’s photographs and attracts
the viewer’s attention is the colors created by the light on the surface of the water. Different blues
such as sky blue, greenish, gray, and reddish. Regarding the color element, it should be noted
that color is a subset of light that helps to see and targets the object. In fact, it is the color that
localizes the material and shows the surface and depth, turning it into a beautiful symbol, full of
feeling, energy and fluidity. We should add that the colors in the photo depend on the light
source, which in some of the photos in this collection also show the light element. As Fontanille
puts it: “The intensity of light depends in some way on the object itself or on that place: warm or
cold colors, saturated or unsaturated, can be interpreted as light sources, depending on the
tonality of the color and its value in the image or painting.”(Fontanille, 1995, p. 32) Color
engages us in a narrative through which we seek meaning. This narrative manifests itself in
various ways through a photo frame. This is the color that frames the space for us and keeps us
on the surface or takes us deeper. The experience of feeling color is intertwined with the visual
reception and perception of objects. In The Phenomenology of Emotion (1945), Merleau-Ponty
describes this constant perception in detail, which becomes tangible and objective in the form of
color matter in what we see. It is a visual experience that constantly displays a particular color
that is related to different moments of capturing the moment, these moments of perception of
light and color are recorded by the enunciator of the collection. The moment when the light
shines is the moment when that range is illuminated and all the images are displayed. Each of the
four elements is represented by the color that plays the main role, and the color stabilization
appears as the moment of its capturing, such as the bluish gray, the red on the sea. Ultimately, it
is the depth of the image that creates the color. Blue is the deepest of all colors, which not only
brightens the material but also makes it clear. In fact, it is the thickness of a pure and clear
material. The color blue itself comes from air, water, crystals, and diamonds. Light also gives
meaning to the text. In other words, light as matter occupies a form of space. In fact, it is the
light that informs us of the presence of place and volume. According to Jacques Fontanille, the
state of light as matter “together with color creates a space, a visual space, which even shows the
depth of the surface.” (1995, p. 35). Light as matter in the visual world requires the presence of
the five senses, especially the sense of touch. In this case, it is as if light gives the gaze hands to
touch the surface of the sea. This combination of the sense of sight with the sense of touch,
which Jill Deleuze calls “optics”, is specific to the meeting or the world of light. It should be said
that the viewer is able to recognize lines, surfaces, volume, etc. through light. The gaze passes
through the thickness, follows the lines and recognizes the surfaces. In some photos, the light is
placed on the water as if it could be touched.
After color and light, objects are in the realm of the four elements and subconsciously want to
become one with nature. Objects left in place, a fisherman’s bundle placed on the shore, sticks in
the water, a tree on the shore, and so on. The perceptible presence of objects on the surface of the
soil, which has low extensity and intensity compared to air and water, deepens and makes the
viewer’s gaze purposeful, and the human body intends to unify itself with natural elements and
consciously release itself in nature as an object. The kind of liberation that the enunciator has
shown well with the play of color and light.
As a result, it should be said that the enunciator has created a language with color and light,
which makes meaning in several ways and has its own syntax. Manifestation of four natural
elements, tangible presence of object and body, relationship between dimensions through color
and light. The perceptible presence of objects and body is related to the perceptual values of
color and light and manifests itself in a space that is the extensity and intensity of the natural
elements water, air, soil and fire (hidden in light) and the relationship between these factors
ultimately shows the emotional and perceptual body, which symbolizes the tangible presence
that touches objects on the shore (soil) or the sea (water) and eventually merges with them, and
all together intend to reach unity.
Marzieh Athari Nik Azm
Semiologist and Faculty Member of
Shahid Beheshti University
Resources:
DELEUZE, Gilles, BACON, Francis (1981), La logique de la sensation, Paris, Editions de la
différence.
FLOCH, Jean-Marie (1995), Identités visuelles, Paris, PUF.
FONTANILLE, Jacques (1995), Sémiotique du visible, Paris, PUF.
FONTANILE, Jacques (1999), Sémiotique et littérature, Paris, PUF.
MERLEAU-PONTY, Maurice (1945), Phénoménologie de la perception, Paris, Gallimard