Far from here, where darkness lies

  • Dates
    2020 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Location Netherlands, Netherlands

“(...) to reclaim perspective in a universe

Where science and wisdom are no longer valued

to escape talking heads who pontificate ceaselessly

on screens large and small,

generating more heat than enlightenment

While I remain bewildered in darkness.”

"darkness and light" Marianne Gambaro

In the Western societies, we perceive darkness as a threat.

It is associated with blindness, fear, mystery, evil, something out of control.

These negative connotations create fundaments for the reality where the levels of light pollution rise fastest in the history of the Earth, simultaneously with the overly rationalised, dominating, patriarchal ways of thinking.

I observe a dangerous tendency to value dry facts over instincts, dominance over sensitivity.

With the rising levels of light pollution levels of melatonin in blood gets dangerously low, species crucial for the ecosystem die out and starry nights are no longer present in our lives. We're losing the darkness, and with that darkness we're losing our instincts and feelings.

My first experience of starry nights brings the feelings of nostalgia and childhood memories. The story began as an investigation of light pollution, but became a personal investigation of looking for what's lost. It's a story of fears to be tamed, of a primal desire to get closer to something universal, bigger than myself, and hope that the narrative can be turned around.

© Emilia Martin - What connects
i

What connects

© Emilia Martin - The crow
i

The crow

© Emilia Martin - The Absent Sky
i

The Absent Sky

© Emilia Martin - Taming
i

Taming

© Emilia Martin - Vera's dress
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Vera's dress

© Emilia Martin - They Are Not There
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They Are Not There

© Emilia Martin - Aurora Borealis
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Aurora Borealis

© Emilia Martin - The Sun
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The Sun

© Emilia Martin - Fruit Bat, Forever
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Fruit Bat, Forever

© Emilia Martin - Colonising Darkness
i

Colonising Darkness

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