Blog
90for90 – Vajrasana Buddhist Centre03.22 / The Original and the Copy02.20 / The Architecture of Intuition10.19 / Up and Down09.19 / Watching Paint Dry06.19 / Gathering Light04.19 / Signs of Life03.19 / The Colour of Water05.17 / Take it as it comes01.17 / Torrential Sunshine11.16 / Where is Everybody?11.16 / Appropriate Light, Serpentine Pavilion10.16 / No Drama10.16 / Every Day is a Good Day09.16 / Sunset + 20 minutes09.16 / Appropriate Light, Turner Contemporary Margate08.16 / In Context04.16 / Fuzzy Boundaries03.16 / Is it possible to photograph the lights going on and off?07.15 / Waiting for a Solar Eclipse03.15 / In Praise of Darkness10.14 / Sensing Spaces01.14 / Nocturnal Change06.13 / The Logistics of Space05.13 /
90for90 – Vajrasana Buddhist Centre03.22 / The Original and the Copy02.20 / The Architecture of Intuition10.19 / Up and Down09.19 / Watching Paint Dry06.19 / Gathering Light04.19 / Signs of Life03.19 / The Colour of Water05.17 / Take it as it comes01.17 / Torrential Sunshine11.16 / Where is Everybody?11.16 / Appropriate Light, Serpentine Pavilion10.16 / No Drama10.16 / Every Day is a Good Day09.16 / Sunset + 20 minutes09.16 / Appropriate Light, Turner Contemporary Margate08.16 / In Context04.16 / Fuzzy Boundaries03.16 / Is it possible to photograph the lights going on and off?07.15 / Waiting for a Solar Eclipse03.15 / In Praise of Darkness10.14 / Sensing Spaces01.14 / Nocturnal Change06.13 / The Logistics of Space05.13 /
In Praise of Darkness 10.14
Recently I spent a few days exploring Naples. Sometimes this meant getting up before dawn so that I could be out on the streets before sunrise, those were the hours, or rather minutes, during which these photographs were taken. The street lighting starts going off ‘at dawn’ like it would in any city as it is starting to get light then, but in the old town where the streets are tall and narrow this is not the case as what little daylight there is does not penetrate. This meant that for a short while the streets were dark, really dark. The only illumination came indirectly from doorways and windows, long stretches were pitch black.
Technically ‘unsafe’ but actually not a problem to walk along the streets were very beautiful, what is lost in light level and uniformity is gained in atmosphere. Living in London where it is not possible to find conditions like this it was a rare treat to experience darkness in a city, it was only a few brief moments but it is one of many things I love about being in Naples.
