Delighted to have been selected to be part of the exhibition ‘Light & Dark’ hosted by Haus-A -Rest on their online site.
I submitted three photographs that I took as part of the work ‘Escape (54.6 ATCF) that I did in 2023/24. This is the text that accompanies my three works:
My three works, black and white photographs entitled 01:59, 09:59 and 17:59, were taken exactly 8 hours apart on Saturday, 18 November 2023. The images were taken with a Lomography reloadable, point-and-shoot camera using ISO400 film. The images capture three points in time during a 24-hour journey on foot through the English countryside. Starting at midnight, I had one day to travel as far as possible away from Meriden, the historical centre of England, on foot, with distance measured ‘as the crow flies’. These images are part of the artwork, ‘Escape 54.6 (ATCF)’, that came out of that journey. The experience of making this work, and the images submitted, evoke, for me, a number of the themes of ‘Dark and Light’. Running through the night, becoming increasingly tired and physically hurting to be met by daybreak. That seminal moment when light breaks the horizon. Light accompanied by bird song. Light that infuses the body with renewed energy and determination. That is the rise. But then the fall. The long, slow inevitability that the daylight won’t last. This is England, in winter, our days are brief. You watch the sky turn grey and then black. Light from the sun finally distinguished and the dark space you have entered after running for hours on end is mirrored by the pitch black sky. Physical and emotional darkness. Travelling through that cycle of night and day is not only physically challenging it is emotionally tiring. But also enlightening. How the body and mind response to their environment. The power of daylight to lift the soul, the body lifted as if powered by the sun. And the ability to keep moving forward even in the darkest places.
Paul Tranter 