Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
path of light

The photograph shows a street at night whose space can only be defined by the street lights and their reflections on the cars parking on the street. The rest of the surroundings remain in the dark. Life without light is unimaginable. It enables us to process information from our environment and to orient ourselves in it. And yet we are no longer dependent on natural light sources in all areas. This becomes particularly clear at night, when the light of day has gone and artificial lighting enables us to see despite the darkness. In my artistic work I place light at the center of my observations. The medium that makes things visible, but often remains itself invisible. I explore the question of how light presents itself to people, whereby it is not always clear what is artificial and what is natural. For my investigation I use the medium of photography which - like humans - relies on light as a catalyst for the generation, processing and storage of information, whereby distortions in perception can only be controlled to a limited extent and information can become visible. What light shows and what it conceals is therefore a central question of my examination of the phenomenon of light.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 11.2023
Date Uploaded: 12.2024
Photo Location: Duisburg, Germany
Copyright: © Lea Marie Köhler