The images I wanted to take for this project are inspired by the three photographers I looked at and follow the theme of absence and the drama created by lighting.

I have driven through the village of Maenclochog many times during dusk or at night and have been struck by the absence of people and yet there are a number of places that are beautifully lit up like a stage set. I have always been fascinated by spaces where people are absent but with the feeling they have just left or just about to arrive. I particularly like the Before trilogy of films by Richard Linklater, in which he ends the film with shots of the places that Jesse and Céline have occupied during the film giving a sense of a lingering presence even though they are gone.

I wanted to take advantage of the lighting of these spaces to create drama and introduce colour into an otherwise dark scene.

The locations themselves are liminal spaces and there is something romantic about the potential they possess and the fact that they are a place that people come together at random. Particularly the gas or petrol station which symbolises freedom, travel and adventure. They are a place of a brief stop on a journey which people inhabit for a short time, there but not there.

I plan to photograph these spaces in a number of local villages and towns at dusk or in the dark.

Night Life