Andreas Gursky and Muhammed Muheisen: Is Color Enough?

After looking at both Gursky and Muheisen, one thing is apparently obvious: they both have a great sense of color and how to capture it in the way that best fits what they are trying to portray. But another question came to my mind as I was perusing their works that kept bugging me for an answer: Is color really all there is to these works? Is that all that is needed? It is interesting to see that even though both photographers show an apparent aptitude for seeing the color around them, their art differs greatly.

Andreas Gursky.... The first thing I thought of when I viewed nearly all the examples I could find of his work was "too busy." Indeed he has a great eye for color, more than most photographers I have seen, and he does know how to use it to create different feelings, but unless most of his work is trying to impart the impression of claustrophobia and busyness, the content of the photographs, the actual substance, the people and animals and buildings, make me feel, well, overly claustrophobic and unsure what to look at. There is too much going on in most of his pieces. I never a good focal point that I could latch on to and keep myself there. I just want to move on and get out of the oppression. I am not saying all his work is this way, just most of it. "James Bond Islands" is the last example I have of his work, and it is the work like this that shows his great talent. He can still capture color, or in this case more of a monochromatic color scheme, and still make a successful photo just by backing up a bit and giving some room to breathe. So although Andreas Gursky knows how to use color in his photos, I feel like the rest of his design and the subjects distract from that aspect.

The photographs of Muhammed Muheisen are very complex. Of course the first thing to look at again is his use of color. It is outstanding the way that he is able to balance colors around the image, weigh them to keep things even, and use them to accent the subject or the mood he is attempting to get across. The images I chose to show here are definitely not the most complex color wise, because they are either monochromatic or very muted, but it is the subject of these photos that got my attention the most. Yes he can use color, excellently in fact, but I suppose in the end it is composition and content that got me the most. He has a great ability to vary the outlook of his works. One could be dark, foreboding, and depressing such as the soldiers and the tank or the boy harming himself, but then he can quickly switch to childlike happiness and playfulness. I applaud his ability to show the complex nature of people and our world: that there is sadness and happiness, death and life, fear and childlike optimism. Unlike Gersky, Muheisen does not just stop with color and then ruin and potential his photos had by messing up on subject, he is able to master color and use it to further accent what he is attempting to relay to the viewer, and in my opinion that is what every photographer needs. So color is not enough on its own, but is merely an accent to the whole.