Streaks of Light Illuminate Hungarian Forests During a Full Moon by David Lados

For his 2014 series New Moon, photographer David Lados captured varying streaks of light slicing through remote areas of Hungarian forests, many specifically staged throughout the Mátra mountain range. To capture the contrast needed for his light trails Lados strictly obeyed lunar cycles, only photographing the illuminated targets during the height of the new moon.

Material and immaterial, motion and stillness, time and timelessness – David Lados “New Moon” series represents all of these phenomena at the same time as a result of the artist’s patient and disciplined game played with nature. According to Lados conception, the works had to be created at new moon, the darkest possible time therefore everything we can see on the photographs – except the sky – is lit only by an illuminating ball, an extraneous element placed into the landscape by the artist.

In case of the project New Moon, David Lados artistic gesture was placing an artificial illuminant and leave it to gravitation that can either hold it still or set it in motion outlining a glaring band of light just by obeying the laws of physics. There is a dramatic contrast between the untouched nature and the artificial light.

Using this technique Lados was able to create an uncompromised glow from the artificial light source, tracing pathways that extend a few feet to the entire length of a pond. You can purchase select prints from Lados’s series on his Saatchi Art shop, and view day-to-day dispatches from his life and other projects on Instagram.