Light Circles, Night Sky

Calgary, AB (Artist Statement)

Light Circles, Night Sky: Calgary, AB, Canada (2010) - Abstract photograph of street lamps and lens flare against a dark night sky

I made this photograph while waiting at the airport for Terri's plane to arrive. There was a gravel parking lot down an abandoned road made for this purpose: a dead end for those lost in transit. It sported a post-apocalyptic view of streetlamps, barren flat-lands, and distant, alien machines.

I was early: the car cooled as I waited, and soon frost formed on the insides of the windows. The sun had set, and the busy sky was slowly fading from blue to black. I had brought my camera, so I whiled away the time by making exposures of the world filtered through glazed glass. I liked the way the frost softened the industrial scene outside, blending details and making a harsh, bland landscape into an abstract masterpiece. I focused in the distance through the veneer of ice, overexposing the photograph and letting the diffuse highlights bloom to fill the frame.

I like times like this, the spare minutes between things that urgently need doing, when my mind relaxes and I really start to see the world around me. I think that if we can allow our minds to wander, we may find surprising treasures in places we don't expect.

— Light Circles, Night Sky: Calgary, AB, Canada (2010)

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