Have you ever lived near an industrial plant? Wished you wouldn’t see it, smell it, or be exposed to its traffic? Industrial installations are considered to be unsightly, often noisy, emitting noxious fumes, filled to the brim with people, machinery and trucks, something you wish away or drive by as quickly as you can.
By photographing them at night, I can emphasize and visualize the environmental impact but at the same time turn those mundane sights into something more akin to a tourist attraction. That is when the concrete hulks are showcased by bright, mixed colors of yellow sodium vapor lights, blueish mercury vapor lights or green LED flood lights. And they alternate with stark shadows created by those lights, which often seem to reach out to you, trying to lure you in and convince you that it’s not all that bad.
By combining these unexpectedly pleasant views with long exposures at night, I also start recording and shifting time: the fumes that emanate from stacks become long streaks that blend into the sky, where clouds form broad bands, the waters smooth over to a mirror finish and reflect more of the colorful scenery. The tangible places become surreal, distracting from their environmentsl impact.
Night photography is very transformative. By positioning myself at a distance, the noisy, smelly, unsightly industries suddenly become deceptively serene views to enjoy. The mundane daytime appearances become otherworldly places because of those reflections, shadows, colors and captured time. Nowhere is that more apparent as in these views of Industrial Beauty.
