The work is a study of light and its relationship to time. The natural order; the cycles of sunlight, govern the hours, days and seasons, as well as our circadian rhythms. 

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In the traditional Japanese calendar the year is divided into more than 4 seasons. There are 24 small seasons such as, 'Ground Thaws, Fish Appear Under Ice' and 72 micro-seasons such as,  ‘Maple Leaves & Ivy Turn Yellow’ and 'North Wind Rattles the Leaves’. These titles describe a fleeting, mindful moment in the cycle of nature.

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      “Not only night and day, but seasonal patterns and (natural) climatic variations, began to decline in  

       importance with developments in lighting, refrigeration and…controlled living spaces. The reign of a

       non-solar day moved the distinction between the time of work and the time of sleep from the natural                order to the political agenda.” (Scott McQuire, 1998. Visions of Modernity)

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The discovery and harnessing of electricity in the Modern era changed our living and working experiences, which became increasingly inside buildings and transportation with electric light and air conditioning. The experience of nature, weather and seasons became largely reduced to a view framed by a window. And the working day extended, no longer limited by fading natural light and the setting sun.

 

The Reminiscence artwork series visually describes and documents the experience of being immersed and present in a moment of nature’s cyclical time, such as the changing blue of the dawn sky or the first golden light of sunrise on green leaves.

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The work also studies visual perception; how we see and how we think we see. We are always moving; we move our heads, eyes and bodies, we do not see from a stationary point of view. And unless we're focused on a particular area, our view is not clear and out of focus. Objects are not always perfectly lit, and the light is always changing. Additionally, visual perception is a process in the mind which includes all senses working together, not just sight through the eyes. Visual perception involves all senses, and is comprehended in relation to our own individual memory of previous experiences.

 

     “The form of objects…appeal to all our senses as well as sight… a fold in cotton shows us the resilience or            dryness of the fibre [and] the coldness or warmth of the material… In the twig from which a bird has

       flown, we read its flexibility or elasticity, and that it is a branch of an apple tree or birch is

       immediately distinguishable.” (Merleau-Ponty, 1962, p.229-30)

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Note: All photographic imagery is created in the moment through the camera and camera functions in natural light and/or electric light without post-editing.

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References:

McQuire, S. (1998) Visions of Modernity: Representation, Memory, Time and Space in the Age of the Camera. London: Sage Publications.

 

Merleau-Ponty (1962) Phenomenology of Perception. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul ltd

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