The Color of Travel. Emotions in Red, Blue, White, Green and Yellow

The color of travel… I got to think of it thanks to the Capture the Color photography competition. A nice contest and not only for the great prizes that Travel Supermarket – the organizers of the competition – are offering to the winners (iPad to the winners for each color class and GBP 2,000 – oh yes! – to the overall winner). Colors often symbolize a country, sometimes a mood and I often associate colors to special emotions during my travels. Thank you to Abigail King (and to Juno, of Runaway Juno) for inviting me to take part!

Blue

I was walking along the seashore in Pulau Perhentian (Malaysia) when I stepped into this old boat lying on the beach. I was struck by the contrast between the bright blue coloring the inside, the white sand and again, in the background, the different shades of blue of the sea.

Blue is the color of travel to Greece – where it complements white – and it reminds me of the unique blue skies at the Titicaca Lake, in Peru.

White

In the land of gold – Burma – I was fascinated by the white Hsinbyume Pagoda in Mingun (not far from Mandalay), maybe because it was a change from the glittering golden stupas that are spotting the country.

When I think at the color white, I can’t help seeing the glaciers and their awesome shapes.

Red

One of the highlights when visiting the markets at Inle Lake (Burma) is spotting the Pa-O women with their traditional head dressings made of colorful clothes (usually bright orange or red), arranged in a beautiful fashion. Overall, Burmese don’t use many bright colors, and even the monks robes are of a deep dark red which I find more austere than brilliant.

Red… The color which I most associate with Central and Latin America. After all… Red is the color of passion!

Green

I spotted this bright green bird house in Canterbury, one of the loveliest cities of Southern England. As I admired the lovely contrast between the peculiar shade of green of the bird house and the red bricks wall, I wondered if it was only meant to decorate the façade or if a bird was living there.

Green… I think of Great Britain and the many shades of green which I rarely spotted in other countries. And I remember the lovely walk on the green meadows atop the white cliffs of Eastbourne.

Yellow

Yellow gave me a hard time as I can’t really imagine it as a color of travel. It’s not one of my favorite colors and there’s not much of it in my pictures. Sometimes, however, yellow captures my attention, as in this flower composition at Girona Temps de Flors (the beautiful annual flower festival in what is one of the loveliest cities in Costa Brava). Simple and common yellow Gerberas arranged in a creative way to compose an original natural sculpture.

Which one is your favorite Color of Travel?

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I am now in the hands of the judges: Ken Kaminesky (Blue),  Abigail King (Green),  The Planet D (Yellow),  Almost Fearless (White) and Daniel from Canvas of Light (Red), hoping they’ll like the shots (selecting the best ones was not an easy task…).

As for the nominations, I’m afraid that most bloggers have already been invited but I’ll give it a try:

Mark Sukhija, at Marks Travel Notes

Andrea Anastasakis, at Rearview Mirror

Rose John, at Travel and Beyond

Keith Savage, at Traveling Savage

Laura and Cipri, at Travelocafe

 

And if you fancy Entering the Capture the Color Competition…

Simply post your best travel photos on your blog in any or all the five color categories (green, blue, red, white and yellow) link to the competition details and nominate five other bloggers. You then need to let Travel Supermarket know you’ve entered, which you can do by either Facebook, Twitter or email. Here are the full terms and conditions. The deadline is August 29th.