In the beginning there was light…

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.

 

During the day, chlorophyll, in the leaves of green plants, absorbs photons, fundamental particles of light energy. These in turn power a series of chemical reactions that, from the raw materials of water and carbon dioxide, make glucose molecules. At night, when photosynthesis is not possible, plants use this glucose to grow. The nutrients formed, in both life and decay, are consumed by insects, animals and other plants, transporting this energy along the entire food chain. Thus, we are all linked to an incredible alchemy, to which green plants hold the secret: the fixing of impalpable light to create living ecosystems. While science already largely explains photosynthesis, it has not yet solved all of its mysteries.
 

My fascination with the science and poetry of natural processes has led me to make “Photo Synthesis”, a photographic reflection on this transformation of light into matter. Like the chlorophyll in leaves, when exposed to light, molecules in photographic film are transformed, bringing an image into being. We can see the forest as a photosensitive surface: the individual leaves acting like the silver halide crystals in photographic film, each recording the exposure of sunlight. Inside these living photographs, we look through layer upon layer – plant and water, branch, leaf and earth – spaces where ephemeral elements materialize as beautifully as in the processes of photosynthesis itself.

 

I chose to work at twilight, with a wooden, large format, analogue camera, on the banks of the Lot River in southwest France. I was intrigued by the moment of pause between sunlight capture and the nighttime making of matter. 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 turns again. The light returns.