The dynamics of colour: sunlight and electric light
We would not be able to experience colour without the incidence of light.
Both the direction of sunlight and different electric light sources profoundly effecting colour appearance.
Light is the medium through which we see colour. Sunlight represents a dynamic that dramatically effects our impression of colour because as the sun moves across the sky the quality of its light will change with every moment of the day. Early morning light is yellowish, becoming bluish at midday, and tending to redden at dusk. Since buildings are seen at all times of the day, sunlight provides a constantly changing impression of their colour.
This effect can be seen by comparing images of one building seen in three different qualities of light.
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Different types of illuminaire, such as sodium and mercury street lamps, will create their own quite different colour-rendering properties.
At night, electric light takes over and applies its own colour-rendering properties. For example, the orange glow emitted from sodium street lamps and the greenish glow emitted from mercury street lamps will radically distort our colour perception of the intended colour.
