Colour,  Squares,  Themed galleries

Gallery: simply red

July 5, 2025 / 35 Comments

Red protects itself. No colour is as territorial. It stakes a claim, is on the alert against the spectrum.

Derek Jarman

Red is a primary colour and a rather schizophrenic one. It represents passion, warmth, and sexuality, but it also stands for danger, violence, and aggression. Red can’t be ignored, it demands to be noticed. From red hair to the red carpet this is a colour sure to turn heads.

For photographers the dominance of red in a scene can be used to create a point of interest and a sense of depth. I remember reading advice years ago that in photographing a landscape you should include a person wearing red; advice I’ve very definitely ignored! But it’s a wonderful colour to photograph in its own right, because you just can’t ignore it. From red flowers to red doors and windows, red autumn leaves to red hair; when I see red I just have to press the shutter!

In addition to what we might call a ‘pure’ red, there are many other reds: scarlet, crimson, carmine, vermillion, burgundy. I’ve used several of these in my gallery below, posted of course for Becky’s July Squares, Simply Red.

So …

… Put on your red shoes, and dance the blues.

David Bowie

My feature photo was taken in the Neon Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada

In the garden of the Villa Laura, Giardini Naxos, Sicily

In the Plaza de San Diego, Cartagena, Colombia

At the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico

In Tahoe City, California

In Lee Vining, California

Tomatoes at Borough Market, London

In Marsaxlokk, Malta – number confusion!

Shuttered window, Filandia, Colombia

Window of the Palazzo Violetta, our hotel in Sliema, Malta

Welcome:

In the Plaza de San Diego, Cartagena, Colombia

Old lamp in Cartagena, Colombia

In the Salt Cathedral, Zipaquirá, Colombia

The Route 66 Museum in Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Spooky tour bus on the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada

35 Comments

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