In Search of Dark Skies by robdavies.photography

In Search of Dark Skies

Robert Davies

This document is also available for viewing at: https://www.robdavies.photography/assignment-2-final-major-project

Falmouth University M.A Photography

PHO750 Final Major Project Submission

Fig. 1: Davies 2023. Untitled #1.

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Contents

3 4 22 24 28 30 32 45 47 49

Project Description Portfolio Interactive PDF Physical Realisation Scale and Materiality Virtual Exhibition Critical Review of Practice Bibliography Figures Appendix

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Project Description

In Search of Dark Skies is a photographic project concerned with the interruptions that various forms of artificial light at night (ALAN) have on the human circadian rhythm and its personal effect on myself. Most of us are familiar with air, water and land pollution, but unaware that light itself can also be a pollutant. According to one article in National Geographic, light pollution is “One of the most chronic environmental perturbations on Earth” (Drake 2019). Directly connected with overpopulation, errant light pollution both emits from and invades our homes where it can disrupt our sleep patterns leading to significant physical and psychological problems that are only just beginning to be understood. Singapore, my country of residence, has been named as the country with the worst level of light pollution in the world, with the whole of the city-state registering at nine on the Bortle scale (Bortle 2001). Due to these immense levels, people in Singapore are unable to see 99.5% of all the stars present in the night sky. The possibility of seeing the Milky Way is precluded to all of Singapore.

Yet it is not just the artificial lighting from increasing urbanisation that is to blame. Excessive use of electronic devices, especially before bedtime, can have significant effects on both sleep quality and mental health. I have recently experienced this first-hand, suffering a non-epileptic seizure which has been partly attributed to sleep deprivation. This lowers the seizure threshold, making individuals more susceptible. The undertaking of this project acted as a form of catharsis for my recent trauma by allowing me to confront my experience through visual expression. As such, the imagery conveys a sense of chaos and disruption, depicting the raw and visceral experience of a seizure and the impact of both light pollution and subsequent sleep deprivation on our psyche. It is also a reaction against the fact that we are living in a world losing its connection to dark skies: “the tapestries into which our ancestors wove their star-studded stories, timed the planting and harvesting of crops, and deduced the physical laws governing the cosmos” (Drake 2019).

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Portfolio

Fig. 2: Davies 2023. Untitled #2.

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In some of the images, I incorporated graphic representations of star constellations that were hidden from view due to light pollution in Singapore. On the left is ‘Canis Major’.

The graphical blocks are records of my sleep pattern as decribed in my Critical Review of Practice.

Fig. 3: Davies 2023. Untitled #3.

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Fig. 4: Davies 2023. Untitled #4.

Fig. 5: Davies 2023. Untitled #5.

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Fig. 6: Davies 2023. Untitled #6.

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Some of the images are records of my heart rate, as shown by the red dots.

Fig. 8: Davies 2023. Untitled #8.

Fig. 7: Davies 2023. Untitled #7.

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Fig. 9: Davies 2023. Untitled #9.

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Fig. 11: Davies 2023. Untitled #11.

Fig. 10: Davies 2023. Untitled #10.

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Fig. 12: Davies 2023. Untitled #1.

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Fig. 13: Davies 2023. Untitled #12.

Fig. 14: Davies 2023. Untitled #13.

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Fig. 15: Davies 2023. Untitled #14.

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Fig. 17: Davies 2023. Untitled #16.

Fig. 16: Davies 2023. Untitled #15.

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Fig. 18: Davies 2023. Untitled #2.

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Fig. 19: Davies 2023. Untitled #17.

Fig. 20: Davies 2023. Untitled #18.

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Fig. 21: Davies 2023. Untitled #19.

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Fig. 23: Davies 2023. Untitled #21.

Fig. 22: Davies 2023. Untitled #20.

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Fig. 24: Davies 2023. Untitled #22.

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Fig. 26: Davies 2023. Untitled #24.

Fig. 25: Davies 2023. Untitled #23.

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Fig. 27: Davies 2023. Untitled #25.

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Interactive PDF

Fig. 28: Davies 2023. Untitled #3. 22

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Please click here to view on Issuu

Fig. 29: Davies 2023. Issuu thumbnail.

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Physical Realisation

Fig. 30: Davies 2023. Untitled #16.

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Specifications Dimensions 9.5x12.7” Cover Hard cover cotton fabric, sealed to provide a smooth, polished surface. One of the most commonly used fabrics for traditional book binding. Binding Section-sewn binding ensures strength and durability and enables the book to be laid flat to showcase images across a double page spread without losing details in the ‘gutter’. Paper Acid-free 260 gsm lustre paper, mounted on board. Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®), meaning it will not have a negative impact on the planet. Printing Six-colour archival printing on HP Indigo Printing Press, ensuring intensity and longevity. Presentation box Made of same material as cover.

Fig. 31: Davies 2023. Photobook and box. 25

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Figs. 32, 33, 34,35,36,37: Davies 2023. Photobook transparencies.

The book opens with introduction text printed on transparency film which can be held to artificial light to read. This is followed by the last stanza of Byron’s poem “Darkness”, providing a cryptic prologue for the trauma that follows. The book closes with three more transparency film artworks that can be viewed in the same way as the introduction.

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Figs. 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43: Davies 2023. Photobook detail.

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Scale and Materiality

Fig. 44: Davies 2023. Untitled #10.

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Please click here to view on Vimeo

Fig. 45: Davies 2023. Thumbnail of video flip-through. 29

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Virtual Exhibition

Fig. 46: Davies 2023. Untitled #26.

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Figs. 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55: Davies 2023. Virtual exhibition.

Please click here to view on Exhibbit

In addition to a book, I intend to exhibit this work on a larger scale, in an exhibition space using back-lit display panels to illuminate my images. Please note, all feedback for this project relates to the book publication, not this virtual exhibition. 31

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Critical Review of Practice

Fig. 56: Davies 2023. Untitled #9. 32

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In Search of Dark Skies

“Sleep is surely one of the most puzzling of all human behaviours,” declares neuroscientist Matthew Walker in the opening pages of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams (Walker 2017). Our relationship to sleep is a long and complex one. To set the context for its relevance to my project we can begin with the 20th century. This era bore witness to many emergent technologies and with the subsequent popularity of futurist ideologies, may have contributed something to the fracture of the psychoanalytic theories of those such as Freud, who proposed that the function of dreaming is to protect sleep from disruption (Freud 1900/1953). The 20th century gave rise to cinema, recorded music and early multimedia performance which interrupted previous sensorial habits and routines, as well as the industries of high-speed transportation, telecommunication and electrical gridding. In his book, 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep (2016), art historian Jonathan Crary refers to these new technologies as ‘metamorphic’ and ‘alchemical instruments’ that began to alter ‘durational processes’ of consciousness. Such new technologies not only challenged established theories on sleeping and dreaming but led us to Fig. 57: Dali 1944. Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. 33

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increasingly inhabit the night, requiring us to make it brighter, and as such: “we have changed the qualities of the night at an environmental scale, affecting not only our own circadian rhythms and behaviours but also those of other organisms and ecologies” (Griffiths 2023: 95). We have in effect subverted our biological imperative to exist as diurnal beings, following rotational and orbital cycles of the sun and moon that have dictated our patterns of wakefulness and sleep for millions of years. Many modern artists have reacted to this lifestyle of never-ending screen time, incessant sleep deprivation, and apparent disconnection from the outside world.

Fig. 58: Vandeleur-Boorer 2010. Jet Slag: 7 lab images, disposablae film camera.

Fig. 59: Vandeleur-Boorer 2010. Jet Slag: actiwatch data.

In her project Jet Slag: Around the World in Seven Sleeps, Alice Vandeleur-Boorer describes her experience with a sleep-deprivation study during which she spent ten days in a lab with no access to daylight or time awareness, forcing herself to sleep outside of the typical 24-hour circadian rhythm by pushing forward her body clock by four hours each night. The disturbingly disorienting effects of the experiment on her are depicted in her photos and graphs [Figs. 58, 59]. Other contemporary artists such as Vicky Clarke see widespread sleep disorders as evidence of the encroachment

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of capitalist technologies and neoliberal culture into our lives. Her multimedia project Sleepstates1 explores: “themes of machine addiction and autonomy, sleep sanctity, the networked condition and how citizens are subjected to emotion extraction via platform capitalism, these dream transmissions journey through the techno-emotional states of slumber we experience between humans and machines late at night” (Clarke 2023). Clarke’s project started in lockdown with late-night internet research on web coding and visual machine learning, resulting in sleep loss and concerns about her mental state in connection to the machine. Our addictive relationship with technological devices was intensified during the COVID-19 outbreak (Masaeli and Farhadi 2021), resulting in significant detrimental psychological and behavioral consequences (Green 2020). Clarke found that through documenting her anxiety and addiction, she could create ‘free space’ to ‘commune collectively’ with the machine, ‘an alternative to interfaces of power, data extraction and capitalism.’ In Search of Therapy In her project In Ten Breaths, New York artist Leah Freed explores the common coping mechanism for panic attacks of taking ten deep breaths to help calm a person down. For

this project she took her pinhole camera and rested it on her stomach while taking the ten breaths, capturing the motion of her body with the rise and fall of her stomach. Each exposure depending on how long it took her to get through the ten breaths [Figs. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69].

Figs. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69: Freed 2018. Breath Studies.

The images represent not only the literal air that goes in and out of the lungs, but also the physical tightness of the chest and the mental feeling of darkness closing in on you that people experience with panic attacks. When distressing thoughts, feelings, or memories overwhelm someone, concentrating on

1. Sleepststates can be viewed at: https://vickyclarke.org/category/work/ 35

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something physical in their environment can help ground them. In Freed’s case it was her pinhole camera. Daisuke Yokota is another photographer whose career has been influenced by a physical trauma. Mortuary (2016) comprises gigantic rolls of developed and fixed photosensitive paper that show only the trace of the chemistry used, accompanied by a soundtrack of muffled vibrations [Figs. 70, 71]. Nonetheless, this immersive installation referred to a reallife event: as a child, Yokota suffered from feverish attacks that caused intense hallucinations, and Mortuary evoked this buried memory. He explains: “A photograph without the intervention of human perception is just a material, but when a human being sees it and thinks about it at a certain time and place, the photograph becomes an interesting phenomenon. To think about photography is to think about the human being him - or herself” (Gauthier 2021). Looking at Yokota’s photographs is an intimate experience, a journey into the mysteries of the latent image which echo his obsession with bringing his own memories to light.

Figs. 70, 71: Yokota 2016. Mortuary. 36

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Yokota’s work has influenced me with how it effectively turns pictures into hallucinations. Images such as [Fig. 72] exemplify this kind of experimentation which leaves traditional photography far behind, challenging the boundaries of representative photography. Repetitively manipulating the same corpus of images, Yokota develops, prints, re-shoots, burns, and layers, so that the final result, a swirling pool of colours, constitutes a sort of hyper-photogram. With no beginning nor end, his photographic style suggests lost links to the past and hidden or repressed truths. In the words of Berlin-based photobook publisher, Michael Kominek, “The meaning of Yokota’s work is in the process.” (Kominek 2017). Yakota often distorts and shapes the subject of the photograph out of its original reference; thereby what is in the photograph is much less important than the prominence of the photograph itself. It is both object and subject. Wolfgang Tillmans similarly describes the pictures in his abstract series Silver [Fig. 73], as each representing the “result of a making” (Yazdani 2021). For Tillmans the results are attributable to a range of human and non-human interventions and processes, both expected and unexpected. The artistic choices chosen by Tillmans lead to images which he describes as no pure accident: “This word ‘accident’ is misleading. ‘The

Fig. 72: Yokota 2015. Untitled.

Fig. 73: Tillmans 2013. Silver 124.

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Unforeseen’ is actually much more appropriate. The Unforeseen is, by definition, what you cannot plan” (Marcoci 2022: 100). Yokota’s images take us on a journey of subconscious recollection that are equally unplanned. In Search of Balance The symbolism of darkness and light has been deeply ingrained in human culture and literature for centuries, carrying a range of symbolic meanings that vary depending on cultural, religious, and personal contexts. Where best to find it than in the closing line of Byron’s poem Darkness (1816) where the speaker dreams a terrible dream in which humanity rips itself to shreds after the sun burns out and leaves the world without light. When referring to the terrible “darkness” that lurks in every person, he states: “She was the Universe”. In Search of Dark Skies attempts to subvert the traditional view of light being the creative, positive, illuminating force in the universe and darkness as it’s binary opposite, that which “extinguishes, eclipses and swallows” (ARAS 2010).

pollution and the value of darkness in an area of outstanding natural beauty. He explains: “Rather than approach darkness as in opposition to light, darkness is approached as a nuanced scale that slips from the bright illumination of the midday sun to the deep night when we rest in the shadow of the earth” (Griffiths, Dunn, Bézenac 2023: 94). This project was undertaken ultimately to help inform urban design and policy in ways that are sensitive to the values and challenges associated with darkness. Understanding the value of darkness to both humans and other ecologies, he questions the term “light” pollution, suggesting: “perhaps dark pollution would be a more accurate term.” (Griffiths, Dunn, Bézenac 2023: 94).

In his project Sensing the Luminous Night (2023), Rupert Griffiths used creative engagement practices and unattended light sensors [Figs. 74, 75] to change perceptions of light Figs. 74, 75: Anon (Lancaster University). c. 2021. 38

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Sensing the Luminous Night (2023) relies on the invention of new apparatus to capture and represent light and time. Griffiths and his team achieved this through developing a timepiece that visualises sensor data in terms of time and rhythm to communicate the data captured from various light sensors disguised in and around Leighton Moss RSPB [Figs. 76, 77]. Vilém Flusser describes a need “to create a space for human intention in a world dominated by apparatus” (Flusser 2000: 75). He posits the camera as a programmable apparatus that, paradoxically, programs the photographer who uses it. However, in the case of Sensing the Luminous Night, it is clearly the individuals in control of the apparatus with a clear “human intention” in mind.

Fig. 76: Griffiths 2021. Approximately 40 days of environmental light recordings.

Fig. 77: Griffiths 2021. Hue and lux of environmental light over approx. 40 days displayed as a three-dimensional helix.

Fig. 78: Davies 2023. Sleep patterns.

Fig. 79: Davies 2023. Sleep study.

In my project I have collaborated with other forms of technology. Using my Apple Watch and iPhone as sleep sensors I have been able to gather data on my sleep patterns, recording both the duration and interruption during a night’s sleep [Fig. 78]. As part of my health rehabilitation, I also had a sleep test performed at my local hospital [Fig. 79] which provided similar data. These sleep patterns are integral to many of my final images, the final execution of which disturb and corrupt the patterns through further physical manipulation [Fig. 80].

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presence, sustained attention and a physical engagement with place and its agents” (Griffiths, Dunn, Bézenac 2023: 100). This “immersion” led to a range of imagery of various light sources. Due to longer exposure times and reciprocity failure, results were surprising and “unforeseen” [Figs. 81, 82].

Fig. 80: Davies 2023. Untitled #19.

It was not just this data that become a key part of my methodology but the approach taken to capture the source imagery. As part of my rehabilitation, I would take night-time dérives and capture images of light pollution emanating from various sources such as streetlights and construction sites using Cinestill 800t film2 on a 6x12” Ondu pinhole camera. As Griffiths states regarding photography at night: “The act of photography is a very specific way of being in the night, perhaps best described as an immersion. It requires and indeed creates full 2. CineStill 800t is a film specially created for capturing natural looking images in limited light. It also has added blue sensitivity to capture full color images in incandescent light.

Fig. 81: Davies 2023. Artificial light at night #1.

Fig.82: Davies 2023. Artificial light at night #2.

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In Search of Intimacy It was important that the format of my final outcome reflected my creative intent. In an online world full of digital devices many of which amplify “subconscious hauntings of unanswered emails, status updates and virtual check-ins [proving] we really are not here” (Dunn 2016: 12), I sought to create something detached from the metaverse. I wanted no cables, yet eternal battery life. Something in high definition yet would load instantly no matter how fast you scroll through. Yet it also had to be tactile and intuitive, allowing the intimacy of my project to reach my audience. I also sought to create something that represents how photography is not only an image, but also an object - much like the work I created. The answer was a book [Fig].

improve the viewing experience, it utilises section-sewn binding to ensure strength and durability and enable the book to be laid flat [fig.], regardless of page count.

In Search of Dark Skies takes the format of a large, portrait 9.5x12.7” hardcover book, combining traditional book making techniques with the latest print technology [Fig]. It is printed on archival, acid-free 260 gsm lustre paper which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)3 It is printed in vibrant six-colour printing, ensuring the intensity and details in the coloured imagery fully resonate. To 3. This means it will not have a negative impact on the planet despite the fact the printed product won’t decompose or discolour with age.

Figs. 38, 39, 40, 42, 43: Davies 2023. Photobook detail. 41

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The book features a relentless series of seemingly chaotic ‘accidents’ that were first captured on film. These visuals were then output on Fuji Instax Wide film4, which I folded, tore, burnt and submerged into various sustainable household solutions during the three-minute processing period to ‘corrupt’ the development process [Figs. 83, 84].

Fig.85: Davies 2023. Illuminated transparency.

Figs. 83, 84: Davies 2023. Instax manipulation.

4. Whilst the sustainability of instant photography versus other formats is debatable, Fujifilm has long been dedicated to environmental responsibility in products, services, and corporate activities; while sharing knowledge and ideas with others for maintaining a green environment.

In some instances, I cut up the visuals only to rearrange them in different orders to reflect disrupted sleep patterns. Fuji Instax Wide film was chosen as my seizure also lasted roughly three minutes - the development process thereby mirroring the duration of the experience it represents. Several images are printed on Pictorico transparency film and inserted loosely into the book. This enables some more interaction with the viewer as they can hold them up to different light sources at night to experience their intensity [Fig. 85].

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Such approaches rephrase our material and physical understanding of photography showing how: “Contemporary art photography has become less about applying a pre-existing, fully functioning visual technology and more concerned with active choices in every step of the process” (Cotton 2020: 249). The final book features no words apart from the cover title outside and on the inside the last stanza of Byron’s poem “Darkness” providing a cryptic prologue for the trauma that follows. The rest of the book features no words, reflective of the fact people in the mist of having a seizure cannot speak. In Search of Feedback This project has drawn some critical feedback from other peers, professional photographers and fellow students who I shared an earlier working version with. The feedback has been quite mixed. Comments included: “The visuals are hauntingly beautiful and convey a sense of chaos and disruption, depicting the raw and visceral experience of your seizures and the impact of light pollution on your psyche.” - Sinead Le Blond, Falmouth M.A Photography

“I like the abstraction and multi laying of imagery within this work and feel that a photo book is an appropriate way to show an outcome for the project. Having the poem from Byron at the start leads the viewer to have a sense of what the work is about in an interesting way....” - Antony Cairns, Visual Artist It’s execution has been thought of form start to finish. It translates very well.” - Allan Myles, Professional Photographer Overall, I was pleased with the outcome of my project and the mixed feedback it generated (for more feedback please see appendix). I agree that this body of work could be expressed in a variety of outcomes – particularly exhibited on large light boxes. I think this is a positive sign that the project has resonance and a life beyond one medium. I’m also aware of the lack of context for each image, yet as another reviewer stated: “At no time do the images ask you to make sense of them but require you to feel your way through them” (Le Blond 2023). It is this tactile experience

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I was seeking as there really are no words to describe the experience of a seizure. Because of an intentional lack of negative or “breathing” space in both the images and layout of the book, the outcome is a visually intense, almost overbearing experience which reflects its original intent. Some might even say I made something beautful out of a bad experience. Ultimately the process of making this project became as important as the outcome. And hopefully now I can sleep a little better.

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Bibliography

ARAS (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism). 2010. The Book of Symbols. Reflections on Archetypal Images. Tascher.

DARKSKY. 2023. Available at: http://darksky.org [Accessed 20 September 2023].

BATCHEN, Geoffrey. 2016. Emanations: The Art of the Cameraless Photograph. Germany: Prestel.

DRAKE, N. 2019. Our Nights Are Getting Brighter, And Earth Is Paying The Price. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ science/2019/04/nights-are-getting-brighter-earth-paying-the-pricelightpollution-dark-skies [accessed 28 August 2023].

BATCHEN, Geoffrey. 2014. ‘Photography: An Art of the Real’ in: What is a Photograph? (ed.) Carol Squiers. Munich: DelMonico Books-Prestel. BORTLE, John E. 2001. Gauging Light Pollution: The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale. Sky & Telescope. Sky Publishing Corporation [accessed 29 August 2023]. BRIGGS, B. (ed.) 2013. 3am: Wonder, paranoia and the restless night. Liverpool University Press and the Bluecoat. BRONFEN, E. 2013. Night passages: Philosophy, Literature, and Film. NY: Columbia University Press. COTTON, Charlotte 2014. The Photograph as Contemporary Art. Thames & Hudson. CRARY, Jonathan. 2013. 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. London; New York: Verso.

DEBORD, Guy. 1955. Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography. Les Lèvres Nues #6 [Translated by Ken Knabb]. DUNN, N. 2016. Dark matters: A manifesto for the nocturnal city. New York: Zero Books. DUNN, N. 2023. Nocturnal Imaginaries: Rethinking and Redesigning the City After Dark’, Ethnologies, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 107-128. https://doi. org/10.7202/1096059ar DUNN, N. 2023. Dark Skies: Places, Practices, Communities. London: Routledge. EDENSOR, T. and HUGHES, R. 2021. ‘Moving through a dappled world: The aesthetics of shade and shadow in place’, Social & Cultural Geography, 22(9), pp. 1307–11325.https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.20 19.1705994.

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FOSTER, R. and KREITZMAN, L. 2017. Circadian rhythms: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. FLUSSER, Vilém. 2000. Towards a Philosophy of Photography. (Translated by Anthony Matthews). London: Reaktion Books. FREUD. S. 1900/1953. The Interpretation of Dreams, Vol. IV and V, Standard Edn London: Hogarth Press. GAUTHIER. J.K. 2021. How photographer Daisuke Yokota turns pictures into hallucinations. Available at: https://www.numero.com/en/art/ daisuke-yokota-photographie-japon-jean-kenta-gauthier [accessed 12 November 2023]. GREEN. B. 2020. International higher education and global citizenship education: the rise of critical cosmopolitanism’s ‘personhood’ in the age of COVID-19. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC9424853 [accessed 15 November 2023]. GRIEVE. M. 2017. Daisuke Yokota (sometimes literally) blazing a trail through photography. Available at: https://www.1854. photography/2017/10/yokota-roman-road [accessed 25 September 2023]. GRIFFITHS, R. 2023. ‘Time and the Anthropocene: Making more-than-human temporalities legible through environmental observations and creative methods’, Time & Society, 0(0). https://doi. org/10.1177/0961463X231202928 [accessed 30 November 2023]. GRIFFITHS, R., DUNN, N., De BÉZENAC, E. 2023. Creating thick

descriptions of nocturnal time and rhythm. Sensing dark places. Available at: https://DOI: 10.4324/9781003408444-9 [accessed 19 November 2023]. KYBA, C. C. M., ALTINTAŞ, Y. Ö., WALKER, C. E. and NEWHOUSE, M. 2023. ‘Citizen scientists report global rapid reductions in the visibility of stars from 2011 to 2022’, Science, 379(6629), pp. 265–268. https://doi. org/10.1126/science.abq7781. MARCOCI, Roxana. 2022. Wolfgang Tillmans: To look without fear. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. MASAELI N., FARHADI H. (2021). Prevalence of internet-based addictive behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9424853 [accessed 15 November 2023]. MORSE. E. 2018. Because The Night. Available at: https://www.frieze. com/article/because-night [accessed 11 November 2023]. O’NEILL, M. and ROBERTS, B. 2020. Walking methods: Research on the move. New York: Routledge. SPRINGGAY, S. and TRUMAN, S. E. 2018. Walking methodologies in a more-than-human world: WalkingLab. London: Routledge. WALKER, M. 2017. Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams. Penguin Books Ltd.

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ROBERT DAVIES

Figures

Fig. 1: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #1. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 2: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #2. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 3: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #3. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 4: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #4. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 5: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #5. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 6: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #6. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 7: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #7. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 8: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #8. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 9: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #9. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 10: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #10. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 11: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #11. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 12: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #1. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 13: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #12. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 14: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #13. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 15: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #14. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 16: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #15. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 17: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #16. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 18: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #2. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 19: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #17. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 20: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #18. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 21: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #19. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 22: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #20. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 23: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #21. Private Collection: Robert Davies.

Fig. 24: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #22. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 25: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #23. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 26: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #24. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 27: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #25. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 28: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #3. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 29: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Issuu thumbnail. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 30: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #16. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 31: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Photobook and box. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Figs. 32, 33, 34,35,36,37: Robert DAVIES 2023. Photobook transparencies. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Figs. 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43: Robert DAVIES 2023. Photobook detail. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 44: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #10. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 45: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Thumbnail of video flip-through. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 46: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #26. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Figs. 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Virtual exhibition. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 56: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Untitled #9. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 57: Salvador Dali 1944. Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening. Available at: https://magazine.

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ROBERT DAVIES

artland.com/the-art-of-depicting-dreams [accessed 10 November 2023]. Fig. 58: Alice Vandeleur-Boorer. 2010. Jet Slag: 7 lab images, disposable film camera. Available at: https://aos.arebyte.com/contents/alice-vandeleurboorer-jet-slag [accessed 20 November 2023]. Fig. 59: Alice Vandeleur-Boorer. 2010. Jet Slag: actiwatch data. Available at: https://aos.arebyte.com/contents/alice-vandeleur-boorer-jet-slag [accessed 20 November 2023]. Figs. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69: Leah FREED. 2018. Breath Studies. Available at: https://www.leahfreedphotography.com [accessed 25 September 2023]. Figs. 70, 71: Daisuke YOKOTA. 2016. Mortuary. Available at: https:// jeankentagauthier.com/en/expositions/presentation/36/mortuary [accessed 10 November 2023]. Fig. 72: Daisuke YOKOTA. 2015. Untitled. Available at: https://https://www. metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/818005 [accessed 28 September 2023]. Fig. 73: Wolfgang TILLMANS. 2013. Silver 124. Available at: https://www. galeriebuchholz.de/exhibitions/wolfgangtillmans- 2013-berlin#_ec=images||31 [accessed 27 October 2023]. Figs. 74, 75: ANON. c. 2021. Available at: https://imagination.lancaster.ac.uk/ project/sensing-the-luminous-night [accessed 27 November 2023]. Fig. 76. Rupert GRIFFITHS. 2021. Approximately 40 days of environmental light recordings. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463X231202928 [accessed 30 November 2023]. Fig. 77. Rupert GRIFFITHS. 2021. Hue and lux of environmental light over approx. 40 days displayed as a three-dimensional helix. Available at: https:// doi.org/10.1177/0961463X231202928 [accessed 30 November 2023].

Fig. 78: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Sleep patterns. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 79: Robert DAVIES. 2023. Sleep study. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 80. Robert DAVIES: 2023. Untitled #19. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 81. Robert DAVIES: 2023. Artificial light at night #1. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Fig. 82. Robert DAVIES: 2023. Artificial light at night #2. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Figs. 83, 84. Robert DAVIES: 2023. Instax manipulation. Private Collection: Robert Davies. Figs.85. Robert DAVIES: 2023. Illuminated transparency. Private Collection: Robert Davies.

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ROBERT DAVIES

Appendix To obtain feedback on my project I sent out a questionnaire using Google Forms to professional photographers and fellow students asking questions about my project. Here are some of the questions and answers. * Q1: Do you think a photobook was an appropriate outcome for this project? “I liked the abstraction and multi laying of imagery within this work and feel that a photo book is an appropriate way to show an outcome for the project. Having the poem from Byron at the start leads a viewer to have a sense of what the work is about in an interesting way...” - Antony Cairns, Visual Artist “Yes, because it provides the viewer with a direct and intimate experience of the subject matter. However, I also think that it would be worth thinking about exhibiting a future iteration of this project because some of the images cry out to be large scale canvases” - Sinead Le Blond, MA Photography Biscay cohort member

images are paired etc. The point of this is that the sequence or pairing adds meaning to the images that they don’t have on their own. Particularly with abstract or semi-abstract images it’s hard to see what the book structure is adding. Why not a box of separate images, or images on a wall, individually or as a collection?” - Brian O’Callaghan “Yes for sure, a photobook is a highly appropriate medium for your project. Through it, the viewer’s tactile and visual experiences are closely aligned with yours.” - Sue Vaughton / Architecture Interior Commercial Photographer and a Falmouth MA Student

“It is an interesting outcome. I have looked at it about four times from front to back and then reversed, and I am still wondering about the images.” - Valerie Williams - Retired

“Whilst the photobook is a convenient way to view the macro representation of the images, I actually think a more immersive experience (say projected on the large screen), is much more impactful as viewers could directly associate the emotional impact from these distorted images ... which is more aligned with the impact of light pollution has on you. (Though I understand it might not be practical for your project at this stage...).” - Yammie Pang | Founder & Managing Director, Mints Group

“The photobook is an inexpensive way of distributing photographic work as a collection. But it also presents work in a sequence, sometimes

“I think a Photobook was a great way to communicate Roberts visions.” - Allan Myles, Professional Photographer

* Please note the feedback was received before I had added the introduction to the book. 49

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ROBERT DAVIES

Q2: These visuals represent my struggle with artificial light and its consequences on my health. How do these visuals resonate with you? “I liked the visuals, strong colours, interesting shapes and overlapping. Abstraction through process is something I’m a big fan of.” - Antony Cairns, Visual Artist “The images are at once beautiful, disturbing and disruptive, which I think is a brilliant combination. The work is certainly not something you can quickly glance at and move on from. The images require the viewer to spend time absorbing what’s in the frame. At no time do the images ask you to make sense of them, but require you to feel your way through them. I felt I could move through the frames, constantly being drawn to the light just beyond where I was.” - Sinead Le Blond, MA Photography Biscay cohort member “As someone who remembers their dreams, I was interested in your ‘hallucinations’ and how you are trying to depict them. The first question that came to mind was: Did the colour temperature of the image have any relevance? The next observation was that I could see images that reminded me of artwork that I had seen before. Picasso; Roger Dean; Daniel Paladino.” - Valerie Williams - Retired “I think the images are beautiful, dark (not literally) and disturbing, but in a general way. I don’t think I’d be able to work out what they are about without the explanation. But does that matter?” - Brian O’Callaghan

“The visuals are hauntingly beautiful and do convey a sense of chaos and disruption for sure—depicting the raw and visceral experience of your seizures and the impact of light pollution on your psyche.” - Sue Vaughton / Architecture Interior Commercial Photographer and a Falmouth MA Student “To be honest, I usually restrict myself in a really dark environment and seldom be disturbed when I sleep :) so it might be harder for me to find resonance with representations of this kind of hallucinations. However, I particularly like the image on page 50-51. Don’t know if you have noticed but it actually looks like an eye ball. And for me, this vividly describes the effect and gives me a much stronger feeling towards the possible impact of light pollution.” - Yammie Pang | Founder & Managing Director, Mints Group “These visuals resonate strongly with me as has as I can feel and see his hallucinations clearly. I can see variety of emotions the disturbances that he is encountering. Also the imagery relates well with the idea of light pollution. It’s execution has been thought of form start to finish. It translates very well.” - Allan Myles, Professional Photographer

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ROBERT DAVIES

Q3: Do you believe that an abstract, non-representational approach to my subject matter is appropriate? “Yes, absolutely. This work is very much about creating a feeling in the viewer. It can’t be representational because it’s aiming to present something that isn’t externally visible.” - Sinead Le Blond, MA Photography Biscay cohort member

“I believe it is very relevant to be abstract, you are dealing with inner thoughts of the mind that we do not seen in the physical world.” - Allan Myles, Professional Photographer

“Never (as far as I am aware) have I had a hallucination dream. I cannot comment.” - Valerie Williams - Retired “I don’t think I’ve come across examples of abstract art which lay claim to such very specific meaning. As far as I’m aware 20th century abstract painters tended to avoid such specific interpretations of their work. Being non-representative seems to have been the whole point.” - Brian O’Callaghan “Yeh, in dealing with intangible experiences like seizures and the effects of light pollution on the human psyche, your abstract approach effectively allows for subjective and emotional interpretation.” - Sue Vaughton / Architecture Interior Commercial Photographer and a Falmouth MA Student “I wouldn’t say it’s inappropriate, but again I’m am not very familiar with this kind of abstract work, so it’s not something that I could understand without reading through your description and viewing the images a few times to identify the associations. (so, not a direct response). My approach would definitely be different but it’s just the way that we shoot :)” - Yammie Pang | Founder & Managing Director, Mints Group

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ROBERT DAVIES

Q4: Do you think photography can be used as a form of therapy? “Yes. Perhaps because of the freedom within abstract imagery...” - Antony Cairns, Visual Artist “Yes, because it allows you to express things that you may not have vocabulary to express.” - Sinead Le Blond, MA Photography Biscay cohort member

“Abstract Photography can be a powerful form of expression because it deals with our emotions without getting caught up in pre-conceived existence of what we have learned or seen or been in the physical world.” - Allan Myles, Professional Photographer

“In the same way that I consider abstract art to be an expressive form of therapy,” - Valerie Williams - Retired “Your approach can definitely tap into the subconscious more readily than representational methods, allowing for non-verbal and non-linear expressions of your emotions and sleep experiences.” - Sue Vaughton / Architecture Interior Commercial Photographer and a Falmouth MA Student “Yes - again, not an expert in this field, but to me, abstracts are very personal, and if by expressing your art in such a form would alleviate emotional discomfort, then it’s definitely powerful. I’m sure people who are more emotionally connected, or maybe suffering from a similar situation, would find relief in this form of therapy. Me as an INTJ, tend to see things in a more logical and organised manner.” - Yammie Pang | Founder & Managing Director, Mints Group