In a different Light by Gigi Williams
We all see differently; our eye-brain combinations interpret the world around us based on the physiology of our visual systems and also on our brain’s memory of all that we have seen before. Turner, for example, had a form of progressive colour-blindness and cataracts, which led to his blazing scarlet, gold and black scenes with dazzling shimmering light – he painted what he saw. Humans normally see red, green and blue in good light but only blue in dark lighting; they cannot see in infra-red radiation. Animals have a diverse range of seeing; butterflies for example have twelve types of photo-receptor covering from deep ultraviolet to far infra-red. When using infra-red radiation to photograph the landscape one obtains incredible images: skies and static water often record black, or very dark, and chlorophyll – deciduous trees and grass – almost 'glow' white. Infra-red photography uses that part of the electromagnetic spectrum that lies below red but above heat. Normal photography, either film or digital, does not record the infra-red wavelengths. Special film or modified digital cameras are required. Both Robin and Gigi are experts on photography with infra-red radiation – having written many original research papers and book chapters on the subject. In this gallery Gigi presents selected examples of her photography of the landscape using infra-red radiation – a version of the landscape we can never see – the land in a different light.
© Gigi & Robin Williams Photography