THIS BODY OF WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED IN JUNE 2011 AT THE WICKFORD ART ASSOCIATION GALLERY (Wickford, RI)
The photographs presented here have all been taken in the first seven weeks following my relocation to Padova, a beautiful Italian medieval city in the Veneto region. They reflect both a sense of eternity and a feeling of perpetual motion, the two primary feelings I experienced when discovering Padova. Because nocturnal photography conveys this dual nature very well, I explored the city at night time. I used timed exposures to accentuate motion, and reveal what may go unnoticed at first sight. For this project, I chose to solely focus on “L’Heure Bleue” (the Blue Hour): that time just after sunset, when the sky turns into a deep blue color, and cities enter into the magic of the night. The deep blue sky emphasizes the yellows and oranges of the city lighting, and beautiful blue-toned reflections appear everywhere. Capturing this special moment is quite challenging as it lasts only as few minutes, and lighting conditions change by the minute. The resulting images are endlessly rewarding: my cityscapes convey the mystical, supernatural feeling of “L’Heure Bleue”.
© Alexa Clement
