Edward Thompson’s Work: Exploring Hidden Realities Through Color and Technology
Photographers are independent individuals who feel differently about disasters. British artist Edward Thompson photographed the forest located in the Chernobyl quarantine zone in Ukraine in 2012, and this work was named “The Red Forest”.
On April 26, 1986, the explosion of Reactor №4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant released a large amount of radioactive material that contaminated the surrounding soil, water, and atmosphere, with radiation levels as high as 200 times those of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thompson uses Kodak Aerochrome film, originally designed for military surveillance and scientific research (the film was only mass-produced in the 1930s), to reveal both the danger and the beauty of this toxic landscape.
His photographs reveal a distinctive light or radiation, presenting forests of bleeding red, an image usually beyond the perception of the human senses, as if in the silent indictment of the sins of mankind. This work explores the boundaries of perception, whether it be things beyond our field of vision, or unnoticed or underreported events that reflect the presence and significance of the artist.
In addition, in order to capture the mysterious “haunted” phenomenon of the village of Plackley in Kent, South East England, Edward Thompson also used infrared photography in his 2016 work “The Unseen” to visualize a scene that is unobservable to the human eye.
Although the themes explored by these photographers are not directly related to the subject matter of my project, their work has had an impact on the way I express social issues through photography, and I was impressed by the richness of the colours in Thompson’s work, as I strongly believe that colours somehow have the power to amplify human emotions.
I actively use this concept in my creations. Although I am unable to have the traditional tool of Aerochrome film, I make good use of modern technology, particularly software such as Photoshop, to achieve my desired effects. This use of digital tools has allowed me to explore and develop new ways of expressing myself photographically, while also providing me with greater creative freedom. Through these modern techniques, I can communicate my views on social issues to the audience in a more profound and impactful way.
*Reference:
https://toxicnews.org/2018/05/31/the-red-forest-picturing-radiation-with-infrared-film/
https://edwardthompson.co.uk/The-Unseen-An-Atlas-of-Infrared-Plates
