I was told the other day that yellow is the colour of depression. This was in reference to the above image and as a matter of fact I do remember feeling slightly sick at the time as well as bewildered that someone had actually installed a bright yellow floresant strip light in the games room.
Depression aside though I am always interested in the role colour plays in photography, often creating images with particular colour dominance. Yellow has always made me feel sick, but I believe there is a much deeper rooted reason for this than a simple case of custard fear.
Long ago one spring when I was a lad with golden locks and freckles we had a science class at school where we had to dissect a common daffodil and make a detailed drawing of the specimen. As my drawing skills where never in question I quickly got to work creating my botany masterpiece. Whilst working on a particularly fine bit of shading around the filament area our teacher Mr Madden (he wont be reading this) told us how some people used the petals of the flower as a garnish in salads to add colour and a bit of sweetness. As I hadn't frequented the tuck shop that morning I pulled off a small part of the delicate petal and popped it in my mouth. After sucking off the powdery residue I slowly began to chew, and boy was it good, sweet with a light creamy texture. I soon moved onto a bigger portion which was equally delicious and soon the entire head of the flower was in gone. I wanted more and made a move for the nearest yellow treat, but I was not the only one with the yellow hunger. Everyone in the entire class had done the same and eaten there delicious daffodil head. "What about the green bit ?" I said, it was slightly tart, but still rather nice, a bit like cucumber.. And so after about ten minutes there was not a single daffodil left for consumption. Some pupils had even eat there daffy before they could draw it..
As we wiped the pollen from our cheeks the class bell rang and we made our way to next lesson which was to be geography with Mr. Ajeeman (he won't be reading either)..
In class as I studied the diagram for crop rotation in Australia I was overcome with what can only be described as the feeling you get after drinking saltwater with vodka. As the flowery mixture in my stomach fermented the saliva filled my mouth and in one almighty burp like reflex I projected bright yellow vomit three feet across the classroom on to Sharon Lords lap. Her screams only muffled the sound of twenty five regurgitating stomachs as Mark Sissons tried to cover his mouth, but the yellow juice just squirted through his fat fingers sending spray across his wheat crop rotation graph. Stuart McClaren managed to get his yellow investment into his Green Flash satchel, but Michael Morris wasn't so lucky and somehow ended up with bright yellow hair and a snotty nose. But by far Rachael Hunter (she was a big girl with quite an appetite) came off the worst with one batch of yellow projectile and another of luminous toxic green, both of which ruined here new open toed Clarks sandals. The entire classroom look like a giant banana massacre....
Several magnolia aftershocks later, the windows where opened and the curtains cleaned and all flower eating was banned on the school premises, they even stopped serving lettuce at lunchtimes.
'The Day Of The Daffy's' as it was commonly known still makes me smile whenever I see a field of Daffodils, but it also makes me feel a bit vomitous as a result. Maybe whoever came up with 'Yellow is the colour of depression' done so in the spring of 85 after a science class..
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