Shadowing Light is a series of photographs that study light as an environmental force. In an age characterised by a disconnection from the natural cycles of light and darkness, the work focuses on the effects of illumination in both urban and rural areas.

The series initially started as an exploration of observatories disturbed by the increasing light pollution at night. In various cities around Europe, I photographed sites that have become unfit for serious astronomical research due to the brightening of night skies. From that point on, the work developed into a broader contemplation on the fundamental connections between light and nocturnal life.

Artificial lighting has not only diminished a clear view of the stars in many areas but also changed the ways human activity goes on throughout the night. From shift work to greenhouse farming it has had an essential role in establishing the 24/7 rhythm of contemporary life. It is a life that follows the logic of expansion, spreading further into unpopulated territory and making the world brighter as it goes.

Night is often associated with dangers and desolation, but in reality it’s abundant with life. It has been estimated that a third of known vertebrates and over 60% of invertebrates are active in the dark hours. Humans coexist with species that have adapted to eons of regular alteration of daylight and darkness. To these lifeforms artificial light means a disorder: some benefit while others become vulnerable pray or get distracted by the added illumination.

A fascination for the phenomena related to artificial light led me to photograph the various intersections of nocturnal life. In this process, photography in it’s inherently mechanical nature allowed to see light in more ways than the eye can reveal. But even more importantly it became a means to meditate on the nature of light and to raise questions of what is lost when the night becomes exposed – and how to understand environmental change when it is deeply entwined with everyday reality.