Bill Armstrong: The Secrets of Color in Photography

“I recommend Bill Armstrong’s color workshop 100%. His understanding of color in photography is unparalleled. . . . He is a working artist who understands and can talk about his medium. My experience of his class was incredibly valuable and full of insights.”

—W.M. Hunt

Bill Armstrong led a two-day workshop at Aperture Foundation, covering the aesthetic principles behind creating strong color photographs.

Exploring both the technical and aesthetic aspects of color theory, Armstrong examined how the eye sees color, the contrast and harmony of colors, color and time of day, color mood and meaning, perception of color, and the psychology and symbolism of color.

Throughout the workshop, Armstrong showed masterworks that reflected the concepts he was teaching, and the group together analyzed the photographers’ use of color.

Participants took part in several hands-on exercises with paint chips, exploring the vast differences in the human perception of color. Armstrong also showed examples of color principles used in design and advertising, and discussed how those concepts can be used in photography to create powerful images that convey particular meanings.

Each participant showed their work to the class, and Armstrong gave individual feedback to everyone, as well as advice on how they can utilize color in a more purposeful way to enhance their projects.

Through the lectures, visual presentations and hands-on exercises students gained a core understanding of how color works. Participants left the workshop with the necessary scaffolding to use color more consciously and for greater impact, both when they photograph and when they print.

Bill Armstrong is a fine art photographer whose work is represented by ClampArt in New York, Hackelbury in London, and numerous galleries across the country and in Europe. His work is part of various museum collections including the Vatican Museum; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum; the Houston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Bibliothèque National de France. Armstrong also teaches at the International Center of Photography and the School of Visual Arts, New York.