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Light Trespass
The scientific term, “light trespass”, describes unnecessary or unwanted light exposure at night. The Light Trespass photography series investigates the ongoing impact of human light pollution in the Hawaiian islands. The images expose luminous and eerie expanses of artificial light from O’ahu’s buildings, streets, structures, and marine bases. Extending the camera’s shutter for one to ten minutes renders the illuminated sky as a mysterious color gradient and makes visible the expansive impact light pollution has on the surrounding environment, often unbeknownst to those immersed inside its glow. From the vantage point of Molokai, light pollution from Oahu and Maui appears as a looming, hovering form along an otherwise dark horizon. Even less populated Molokai and Lanai exhibit enough traces of light trespass to illuminate the skies above.
The images are simultaneously beautiful yet ominous, revealing a significant human presence on the Hawaiian Islands. In an age of increasing and uncertain environmental changes, Light Trespass questions humanity’s relationship to nature and considers the unwitting yet profound impact of generating artificial light where there naturally would be darkness. By exposing artificial light’s ability to shape the landscape, these images also signify human disruption of the environment.
