“At night the desert brings a sense of calm like no where else. There is a stillness, and yet, you can feel the world turning and hear its silence.
The nocturnal desert is often described as looking like another planet. In addition, a portal emphasizes the idea that we have arrived in another world or the possibility that we are about to leave. But this is not another planet and the alien presence is human.
In Biblical scripture, a portal is a symbolic doorway that represents a transition between realms or states of being. Penumbra is a man made presence that does not belong, but presents a doorway into this world or the next.”
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I began the Penumbra project two years ago at a time when people, especially actors, were shouting about robots taking over their jobs in an AI world. I pretty much kept the project to myself and never published anything online choosing to only show a select few people, the response being either, ‘Amazing! or ‘Interesting.’
Keeping things under wraps was not through fear of people copying the idea, although there was a little of that, it was more a case of not wanting to reveal anything until I had a body of work. I wasn’t interested in talking about an idea or showing a lot of experimentation which can often lead to self doubt and even abandonment of the project altogether. Some folk even thought I had stopped shooting, little realizing I was working through the night on my ‘secret’ project. The thing is, projects were always like this in the days of film and print. Despite the ease of online access today with digital, I still think its a good thing not to reveal too much until the project has some weight. Photographers are too quick these days revealing a project idea after 2 or 3 images only to drop the idea later or have someone sweep in and finish the project for them..
At first glance one would assume I went out, made the landscape, and then added a portal of light in post-production. But what would be the point in that? The most important part of the project was to do everything in camera. For instance, adding an artificial light source often produces unpredictable results, something which became addictive. It could be argued that AI would have made things a whole lot easier, but all the creative process would have been lost. Despite the unpredictability of what the light would do, there is still an element of control here, and in this day and age control has to take priority.
This new work is not as much of a departure as people might think. Its still landscape, its still night photography, and it still has an element of the man-made within a natural environment. And so with that in mind, I bring you Penumbra.
