silhouettes

sunrise and moonset on cadillac


I've been exploring silhouettes as a way to make my photographs more interesting, whether taken at sunset and sunrise, or at other points in the day when the harsh lighting makes for difficult exposure. The goal is to produce a scene that goes beyond the typical sunrise and sunset photographs with their vivid pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows.

For the most part, people form the silhouettes, dark and faceless outlines that invite the viewer to create their own narratives or to insert themselves into the frame. I am particularly drawn to the lone figures in these images. I wonder whether they choose their solitude, and I wonder about the peace they find in this time by themselves.

Whether alone or with companions, these people always exude a feeling of awe, of deference to a higher power from which great beauty emerges. As powerful as any one of us may be, and as powerful we may be as a collective, the passing of each day and the rising and setting of the sun, the introduction and withdrawal of light -- those are things we can only watch and not control.


end of the day



solitude



sunset at ellis landing

days are still getting shorter...

Although I like having the sunlight streaming through my window to help me wake up in the morning, I occasionally have the opportunity to stop and enjoy the later sunrises. I woke up on December 1st and caught the orange glow of the approaching sun stretch across the horizon. The silhouetting of the buildings and the airplanes departing from LaGuardia Airport transformed the landscape I'm used to seeing out my dorm room window from a sprawling mess of buildings into a murky formless shape, nighttime lights still faintly shining from windows and streetlamps, all sharply contrasted against the ever-brightening sky above.