Sunlight - Cultural Aspects

Cultural Aspects

The effect of sunlight is relevant to painting, evidenced for instance in works of Claude Monet on outdoor scenes and landscapes.

Many people find direct sunlight to be too bright for comfort, especially when reading from white paper upon which the sun is directly shining. Indeed, looking directly at the sun can cause long-term vision damage. To compensate for the brightness of sunlight, many people wear sunglasses. Cars, many helmets and caps are equipped with visors to block the sun from direct vision when the sun is at a low angle. Sunshine is often blocked from entering buildings through the use of walls, window blinds, awnings, shutters or curtains, or by nearby shade trees.

In colder countries, many people prefer sunnier days and often avoid the shade. In hotter countries the converse is true; during the midday hours many people prefer to stay inside to remain cool. If they do go outside, they seek shade which may be provided by trees, parasols, and so on.

In Hinduism the sun is considered to be a god as it is the source of life and energy on earth.