Pictures of Day and Night
Since the invention of light and shadow have been crucial for the composition and expressiveness of photographs. New Objectivity photography focused on precisely illuminated everyday things and banal objects; experimental set-ups were created, where similar or identical objects were examined under different lighting conditions. The dualism between light and darkness, in the sharpest contrast of black and white, inspired many photographers to experiment with the reversal effect that is immanent to photography: the enlarged negative of the photograph is the shadow-like alter ego of the 'correctly' printed picture. Conceptual artists began to exploit the potential of photography to illustrate the passage of time: a series of photographs with numerous pictures taken over a specific period of time, for example from daybreak to night, document change and serve as chronometer and pictorial diary. More recently, photographers have increasingly explored the design possibilities of creating autonomous pictures by using light and its changing conditions. The visualization of processes of light in photographs is an incentive for an advanced photographic art focused on technical innovation of photography the qualities (image: Gregor Sailer, Mirny, Yakutia, Russia, aus der Reihe: Closed Cities, 2011. C-Prints, Archivpapierprints, 19 x 31 cm. Oesterreichische Fotogalerie, Museum der Moderne Salzburg).