The Motorway series was an exercise to try and ascertain which Sun trails correspond with which month. These images were captured from 21 December 2011 until 21June 2012.
In order to estimate which bands of Sun trails belonged to which period of the year, a sequence of monthly cans were set up by the window overlooking the busy A1 Motorway which runs alongside the University of Hertfordshire. Removing the cans at monthly intervals meant that the images only show that select ‘slice of time’. The thousands of vehicles which passed by every day are totally invisible. It looks like a desolate scene devoid of movement whilst the reality is the exact opposite.
All images were captured on black and white photographic paper.
January
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
One month of sunlight. The A1 motorway seen from the University of Hertfordshire building shows the Sun’s trails from December to January. In this image, day and night seem to occur at the same time. The Sun’s low arches are accompanied by the motorway streetlight. The short winter days with fewer daylight hours allowed the artificial light source to be captured as well as the sunlight.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 January 2012
February
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
Two months of sunlight. As the days progress the Sun’s trails increasingly grow higher and stretch further to the West because of the Earth’s tilt. The image becomes brighter and more detailed as the exposure time increased and it is flooded with light. The ‘night-time’ feel is reduced.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 February 2012
March
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
Three months of sunlight. Even though all the images in this series were edited the same way: crop, invert, auto colour and auto contrast, the change in brightness is very obvious from March onwards. A pink band of Sun trails shows, instead of the yellowy green ones up until now. The overall look of the image is much more defined. The carpark is now clearly visible. Some of the lettering from the can has shown through in the bottom left corner.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 March 2012
April
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
Four months of sunlight. The orange marks in the right hand corner are most likely due to chemical residue on my fingers whilst lining the cans with paper in the darkroom. The parked cars look ghostly as they would have been moving daily.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 April 2012
May
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
Five months of sunlight. As the exposure time increases and light continues to react with the silver halides in the paper one would expect to find clearer images. However, even though they become brighter and more colourful, these images begin to lose detail. This can was moved, causing a double image of the streetlight in the middle.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 May 2012
June
(Digital Positive file from paper negative)
(Negative on B&W Photographic paper)
Six months of sunlight. The trees, which by now are full of leaves and totally obscure the view of the motorway, actually look empty. This is due to the fact that once the paper was exposed to the bright sky in December, it cannot unexposed in June to show the new growth.
Captured: 21 December 2011 until 21 May 2012