The photographs in Dark Sun are negative prints. In this reversed black and white image, a duplicate but opposite world is revealed, one that is self-luminous, radiating rather than reflecting light.
This special light describes a space that is strikingly real and yet metaphysical in nature. Therefore, it allows me to explore other issues of concern, the heart of which is the dual nature of reality: negative/positive, spiritual/material, invisible/visible, shadow/light. It also satisfies my core belief that the human eye does not tell the whole story. I believe that the truth is just below the surface, and I’m always aware that my ‘solid’ glass table holds a vibrant molecular world.
Light can reveal or obliterate, and the same can be said of shadows. For me, viewing a negative image is an exhilarating act of discovery, inviting the viewer into a reinvestigation of the known. Objects once obscured in the shadows emerge the way colors arise in the morning from their black and white nightlife. Shadow secrets reveal themselves too, as the curtain of traditional representation lifts.
The first negative image was made by Fox Talbot, but it was Man Ray who infused it with the surreal and spiritual, allowing the subconscious to surface. However, as a final image, the negative has had a brief and sporadic role throughout the history of photography. It is inherently photographic and still little explored.
