Light Show

Fire in the dark - Nocturnal lux

Normally light is only the means to create a photographic image.
But here I've crossed the line: Light has become the motive itself.

In this collection I have broken two fundamental rules: Make sure there's enough light, and keep the camera still.

Instead I went out into the night, and kept the camera moving while photographing moving objects.
No flash, but long exposure. Photographing in the dark and shaking the lens at any photon drifting by. Sounds like a recipé for chaos?
Yes, most of the times, but now and then new order arise from chaos, presenting views I would never have envisioned myself.
It sounds like a paradox, yet such photos may be shaken and sharp.

Light Show 2 - Light Show 1 - Light Show 0

Mads Dam, February 2007

Light Quotes

Photonic lines

A picture must possess a real power to generate light,
and for a long time now I've been conscious of
expressing myself through light, or rather in light.
Henri Matisse

He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
William Blake

There is such a thing as the impression of luminosity.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Painting is by nature a luminous language.
Robert Delaunay

There is strong shadow where there is much light.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I love lying in darkness.
Nicole Kidman

You see these thick curtains shut out the daylight:
artificial light suits me a great deal better;
it's absolutely steady, and much more exciting.
Pablo Picasso

Available light is any damn light that is available!
W. Eugene Smith

Of the original phenomena, light is the most enthralling.
Leonardo da Vinci

Most people would guess that the sun is fifty or a hundred times brighter than the moon,
but it's a half million times brighter – evidence of the amazing capacity of our eyes to adjust to light and dark.
James Elkins

Light is a thing that cannot be reproduced,
but must be represented by something else – by color.
Paul Cezanne

In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light.
Hans Hofmann

I often think the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.
Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo. Letter 533, Arles, 8 September 1888

Mehr licht - Goethes last words

I have seized the light. I have arrested its flight.
Louis Daguerre

Fiat Lux!
Anon

Light Show

Fire in the dark - Nocturnal lux

Light Quotes

Photonic lines

Light Links

Photonic sites