Photos: The Uneasy Conflict Between Artificial and Natural Light
Artist Kevin Cooley has traveled the world capturing landscapes where one light shines on the horizon
- By Paul Bisceglio
- Smithsonian.com, March 01, 2013
(Kevin Cooley in collaboration with Bridget Batch)
The landscapes tend to be stark, with just a hint of human presence. Los Angeles-based photographer Kevin Cooley has captured such scenes around the world for seven years, using solitary lights amid vast landscapes to convey feelings of unease. “It’s about being lost in the world,” he says, “and being lonely.”
Sometimes Cooley pits natural light against artificial light, as in Iceland (above), where the aurora borealis bears down on a strip of highway illuminated by a nearby tunnel. “I try to find locations that present nature as this very powerful, dangerous, foreboding force that we all have to reckon with,” he says.
Photographing Iceland’s landscape under the North’s constantly-shifting daylight, Cooley says, “makes you very aware of how sensitive we are to light, and how light can change in unexpected ways.” (2008)
Comments (1)
Some of the photos do convey a sense of loneliness but my initial feeling is of a sense of hope for others. The existence of a point of artificial light in a vast landscape makes me feel less alone. Amazing photos either way.
Posted by vlb on February 25,2013 | 06:49 AM