I love photography. I enjoy seeing the work of other photographers almost as mush as I do looking thru the viewfinder. It’s my belief that photos are the closest we’ll ever come to seeing what another person sees, and feeling what another person feels.

The best photographers can not only relay their sights and feelings through their photos, they can also capture the emotions of another person and put them on display. Some people can put a subject at ease naturally, allowing the subject’s inner self to shine through, while others must learn how to do it.

I’m in the latter group. I am comfortable talking to strangers, but I can sense people’s initial reluctance at having a candid shot taken, or whether they are relaxed enough to let down their guard and allow their true selves to show. It will take me some time to get there, but I think it will happen.

My deficiency in taking portraits only enhances my admiration for those who can, which is why I wanted to review a new Fotopedia collection called Memory of Colors.

Fotopedia “Home” screen

If you’re familiar with the Fotopedia application for the iPad then you’ll understand how Fotopedia:Memory of Colors works.

Each photo in a Fotopedia gallery is cross-referenced according to several relevant parameters. In Colors, those parameters are country, region, photographer, and, of course, color. You can perform searches for people and color, or use the map to zoom in on regions and countries of interest.

Search by people, colors, or, oddly enough, the top 10 wallpapers

If you find a particular photo that strikes your fancy you can share it via email or the usual list of social tools, or you can make it a wallpaper for your mobile device, which is pretty cool. You can also tag your favorites for review later.

Each photo links to information about the person in the portrait, and the region he or she is native to. Unfortunately, this feature gleans its info from Wikipedia and your iPad must have Internet access for this feature to function properly. Fortunately, the query does not kill the app. A simple tap stops the Wiki request and you can continue enjoying the photos.

Info about the people in each photo is culled from Wikipedia

Fire up Fotopedia and you find a listing of the available collections. Tap the Colors collection and you are immediately presented with a gallery of portraits that forces you to look, and even study each subject.

The portraits are of people around the world, but there seems to be a focus on countries near the Equator. The furthest North is France and the furtherest south is Namibia. The subjects are dressed in their native garb and poised in front of backgrounds that enhances the shot, making for very colorful photos, hence, the name.

Share the beauty via the usual suspects or save your fav as a wallpaper

To say that these portraits are beautiful would be an understatement. The colors are intense, the native dress and adornments are fascinating, and the expressions are captivating.

I spoke about studying the photos earlier. You really should take a good look at each because you seldom get an opportunity to really look at people this close. What you’ll find is that there are striking similarities between the people in the portraits and people you may know or see in your daily travels. As you study these people up close, it becomes easier to imagine a Papuan native dress in a business suit and a fortune 500 CEO sporting shells, face paint, and feathers.

I’m reminded of a quote from the movie, Muppets Take Manhattan, where Pete explains to Kermit about the nature of people.

“Hey, I tell you what is. Big city, hmm? Live, work, huh? But not city only. Only peoples. Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?”

Peoples is peoples. After viewing the portraits in Fotopedia:Memory of Colors, I think I finally understand what Pete was driving at. Regardless of who we are, where we are, or how we choose to present ourselves to the world, at the end of the day we are all just people.

I like that.

If you enjoy photography, enjoy portraits, are interested in geography and sociology,or you just want a gallery to show off your iPad, then you will want Fotopedia:Memory of Colors. At just US$0.99, it’s hard to say no to such beauty, which is why I recommend that you Get It Now!*

* Note: My rating system goes like this;

• Get it Now! - Highest rating and an absolute must-have
• Highly recommend - Minor flaws, but a great product
• Recommend - Flawed, but still a solid product
• So-so - Problem product that may find a niche market
• Avoid - Why did they bother making it? A money waster.