2007
C-Print
8 x 10 in
To photograph the aurora borealis, the camera shutter must be left open for a long time in order to capture the relatively faint glow and arcs of light in the night sky. There is a similar technique when photographing fireworks: leave the shutter open for a long time and the light emitted by the firework will draw itself onto the camera’s film or CCD. I decided to use this method to simultaneously contrast a man-made spectacle against a spectacular natural phenomenon.
This was made during the same period as Wild Signals at an artist residency near Carcross, Yukon. As with Wild Signals, I do not appear within the camera frame; instead my presence is recorded indirectly.