Mati Granica

Even at Night it’s Never Dark 


‘Even at Night it’s Never Dark’ is a photographic project exploring the impact of excessive city lighting and resulting light pollution on nature and the human. Stemming from personal experience and research relating to the impact of artificial city light on health, the project explores the harshness and constructiveness of this light. It looks into how this has an unnatural effect on life and results in feelings of disconnect from natural roots; replaced by synthetics. Intentional overexposure emphasises the strength and overwhelming effect of city lighting; the resulting distortion of colours explores how these lights physically change those who are affected by them. This distortion combined with visible dust spots and chromatic aberration emphasises the idea that the light is omnipotent and harshly exposes every flaw. Photographs of constructed structures like massive office buildings comment on the capitalist roots of light pollution, while the following images explore the impact light has on nature. The relationship between the natural and the artificial is imbalanced, with the urban images being positioned above the rest, commenting on the ceaseless dominance of urbanisation. Centring the urban images is one of digital stars in a light polluted sky, referencing the domination that urban environments have over everything, even ancient light. A self portrait fronts the collection, exploring a narrative of trying to escape from urban light but being unable to do so after endless exposure; the human who absorbs so much light that they become the light, unable to switch off. The foundation of the project stems from research surrounding the effects of city lighting on mental health, and nature is used as a metaphor for this. Artistic influences for themes and photographs range from the urban work of Rut Blees Luxemburg to the light-filled aesthetic of Benoit Paille to the glowing portraiture of Duane Michals and Katrin Koenning.