How it Lets You See

"The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see." - Adrienne Rich

This image - an abstract close-up photograph of the flesh of a dead Silkie chicken - might just as well have been a study in the colour black. The bird's skin is almost black, the meat is a surreal shade of blackish-blue, and here I wanted to present this utterly dark subject against a pure black backdrop. It took some technical effort to nail the lighting and exposure, but once that was done I found myself fascinated by how much detail there is, how much contrast and texture can be found even in the near total darkness of the scene. The quotation from Rich, above, seems relevant to these studies and, sadly, to the times we find ourselves living in. Rich was a woman who understood oppression deeply, who understood what it was to live in darkness, to let the eyes adjust, to look deeper, and to find beauty.