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Saturation, which is the amount of gray in a particular color. A color with more gray is considered less saturated, while a bright color, one with very little gray in it, is considered highly saturated. The amount of saturation does not affect the basic hue of a color and it also is unrelated to the value (amount of light or darkness in a color.) For example, if we take away the colors in an image, the tonal values will remain. However, taking away the colors themselves will make the image completely unsaturated. A more saturated color is also called a more 'pure' color because it is undisturbed by gray.
The four images at the top of this page are the same watercolor of a frog reproduced at different saturations. The image on the top left is fully saturated, and the one on the bottom right is completely unsaturated.
More saturated colors are also considered more bold and tied to emotions, while unsaturated ones are softer and less striking. The producers of an image often have a choice of how saturated they want to make the colors in that image, and their decisions reflect their intentions.
A black and white image (in reality, made up almost entirely of shades of gray) is an example of total unsaturation to the point where color is actually absent. Unsaturated black and white is often used to represent the past while highly saturated colors are frequently used in depictions of the future. When Time magazine selected Bill Clinton as their 1992 Man of the Year they featured photographs which juxtaposed images of the past in black and white, (A teenaged Clinton shaking John Kennedy's hand, the Bush Oval Office) with images representing the future (A triumphant post-election Clinton shaking his fist; Clinton, the then president-to-be, walking into the Oval Office) which were highly saturated, right down to the color of their skin.
Advertisers often use saturated colors in order to catch the passing attention of readers and viewers. Unsaturated colors and non colors (black, white and gray) are restful and sometimes depressing, and we usually avoid those kinds of feelings. We focus more on saturated colors because the more boldly-colored objects seem closer to us. In some advertisements, neutral and lively colored images are put together, creating a remarkable contrast. For example, the following color picture illustrates a magazine article presenting eight models. They "come from incredibly diverse backgrounds." The saturated colors in this picture exaggerate this diversity of cultures. If we lower the saturation of the image, we don't notice the contrast and the effect changes dramatically.
The colors are not as affecting, and the contrast between the color of the models' skins is not as striking.
The saturation of a color can also affect our emotional reaction to an image. Colors that have low saturations are often seen as dull and boring, but can also be thought of as restful and peaceful. Highly saturated colors, on the other hand, are more vibrant and emotionally aggressive. When we look at an image in which the colors are highly saturated, our attention is grabbed. Movie makers use this aspect of saturation all the time in order to convey particular feelings. For example, notice the difference in saturations between the still from Howard's End and the still from Do the Right Thing.
The colors in Howard's End are much less saturated because the movie is much more tranquil and serene. Do the Right Thing , however, is an intense movie which expresses highly charged, extreme feelings. Therefore, the colors the director and cinematographer use are very saturated and emotionally loaded.
Saturation is an important component of color that affects us every day, often without our realizing it.
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