Alkyd Photography

Val Roseg, Grisons 2019 Edition of 2. Pigment print on Canson photographic rag 310g, mounted on dibond in smoked oak wood frame with museum glass. Framed: 68 x 93 x 3 cm Editions in 3 sizes, 3-2-1 + AP To get a fresh look at natures beauty in a modern era, Zak van Biljon went beyond the visible spectrum to capture these vivid images. The technique, developed for military surveillance and crop surveys, captures near-infrared light: wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that fall between what we see as red and the longer wavelengths used for thermal imaging. The pigment in plant leaves, chlorophyll, strongly absorbs visible light which they use as a source of energy in the process of photosynthesis. The cell structure of the leaves, on the other hand, strongly reflects near-infrared light. A strong absorption at these wavelengths would only result in overheating the plant and possibly damaging the tissues. The human eye is unable to perceive infrared light but it is exactly this reflected energy, which reacts with infrared-sensitive material to create electric pinks and vibrant reds. The idea of landscapes is not landscape by itself. Nothing exists by itself but only through perception. Our perception, however, is subject to both individual watching and classifying what we see. The classification is strongly subdued to the imagery with which we are confronted every day. The famous Windows computer desktop image “Bliss” and others of this kind have become a kind of nature of which we believe that it is “true” nature. Pictures of natures are not about falsifying nature itself but are reflecting our perception of nature. What kind of image do we have? On social media channels user are sharing zillions of filtered photos of nature...