Proposal - Light Pollution

"For most of human history, the phrase “light pollution" would have made no sense. Now most of humanity lives under intersecting domes of reflected, refracted light." National Geographic - Our Vanishing Night.

Photograph by NASA 1996

Luminous patches glow on a map of nighttime Earth created from satellite and ground data on scattered light as of 1996-97. The situation is even worse today. Based on calculations, two-thirds of humanity lives under skies polluted with light, and one-fifth can no longer see the Milky Way.

This photo really intrigued me, indicating the densest areas across the world through light admission.  While we think of New Zealand being reasonably insignificant on the scale of the whole world, this photo suggests otherwise with the likes of Auckland and Wellington having reasonably defined areas of luminosity. 

Through the last two projects, the idea of light pollution has become quite apparent as whilst photographing in town, the city it completely lit by artificial light and in effect creating an atmospheric haze above the city. By the time I drive out of town into the suburbs, the same sky has a completely different aesthetic lined with sharp stars scattered across the sky.


I find it quite an ironic concept that by creating light, we are effectively taking it away.. 
For project three I aim to demonstrate this concept of light pollution through various photographic techniques.