Green plants evolved to harness sunlight to feed themselves, through the process of photosynthesis. The energy that they create and store, born from the sun, supports all life on earth. “Photo Synthesis” is a photographic reflection on this elementary transformation of light into matter.
Echoing the photosynthetic process, silver halide molecules in photographic film are transformed into metallic silver when exposed to light, bringing an image into being. Likewise, we can see the forest as a photosensitive surface: individual leaves each record their exposure to sunlight. Intrigued by the moment of pause between sunlight capture and the night-time making of matter, I worked at twilight, with a wooden, large format, analogue camera, making my photographs beside the Lot River in southwest France. In autumn, yellows and ochres, visible manifestations of the light that leaves have absorbed during the growing season, mark the turning of the plants’ energies towards the earth. At this time of year, the bodies of trees are revealed, showing the tangible results of their alchemy.
The energy produced by photosynthesis, moving through leaves, roots and soil, carries sunlight into the darkness, to store, ready for new growth in spring. The cycle of life revolves. The light returns.
