For his project 'Absence' Vincent van Gaalen (1984, Delft) travels to the last areas of Europe where the nightly darkness has not (yet) been replaced by artificial light.
Amidst this darkness – surrounded only by his equipment, a tent, and some provisions – Van Gaalen photographs our human absence. Leaves, stones, water and air catch the light of the moon and stars. The deepest blacks emerge, outlines are enhanced. In this world, as darkness takes control, reason makes way for imagination. It makes us vulnerable. The landscape remains barely visible - but tangible all the more.
'Absence' is an ongoing project that Van Gaalen started in 2020. In his work, he studies the age-old friction between creating mankind and the autonomy of nature.