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David Arnold Photography+
Lipizzaner Team, Dunapataji, Hungary

Infrared Street Photographs

Posted on January 6, 2023
Lipizzaner Team, Dunapataji, Hungary
Lipizzaner Team, Dunapataji, Hungary

With the invention of photography in the 19th century, photographers opened the spectacle of the natural world to the scientific community and to an awestruck public. After the introduction of faster dry plate emulsions, photography as a tool for research of unseen realities extended scientific knowledge beyond the observable, and photography routinely presented the previously invisible, making commonplace, vision beyond human sight. These powerful glimpses beyond sight proved surprisingly beautiful and captivating. As fascinating as these spectacles were for popular culture, these visions were also profoundly unsettling.

  • Man and Pigeons, Dam Square. Amsterdam
    Man and Pigeons, Dam Square. Amsterdam
  • Travelers, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England
    Travelers, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England
  • Bride and Bridesmaids, Bucharest, Romania
    Bride and Bridesmaids, Bucharest, Romania
  • On the Steps of Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England
    On the Steps of Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England
  • Tourists, Tsarevets Fortress, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
    Tourists, Tsarevets Fortress, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
  • Passerby from the Cam River, Cambridge, England
    Passerby, Cam River Bridge, Cambridge, England
  • Escalator, Vienna Subway, Vienna Austria
    Escalator, Vienna Subway, Vienna Austria
  • Wedding Party at the Nurenburg City Hall, Nurenburg, Germany
    Wedding Party at the Nurenburg City Hall, Nurenburg, Germany
  • Statute, Trains, Cologne, Germany
    Statute, Trains, Cologne, Germany
  • Entrance, Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg, Germany
    Entrance, Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg, Germany
  • Nightclub, Ruse, Bulgaria
    Nightclub, Ruse, Bulgaria

Photography extended scientific observation beyond the limits of sight, but photography’s ability to carry human sight beyond the visible did not suppress the scientific or photographic association with magic and wonder. In fact, with the introduction of x-rays, projected motion studies, infrared photography, and other equally remarkable discoveries, photography, and science would greatly accelerate the connection to magic and wonder, and beauty. Photography and science, through this radical shift in thought, gave proof that there was a great deal more to the universe beyond human sight, and ironically, photography, the medium of sight, played a major role in challenging human vision.

  • A Study in Repetition, Reflections on Canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    A Study in Repetition, Reflections on Canal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • A Swan Takes Flight, Bruges Belgium
    A Swan Takes Flight, Bruges Belgium
  • House Boats, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Bicycles Rest Under a Large Sycamore Tree on a Railing at the Canal Edge, Bruges, Belgium
    Bicycles Rest Under a Large Sycamore Tree on a Railing at the Canal Edge, Bruges, Belgium
  • View from an Upper Story Window, the Windmills at Kinderdijk, Netherlands
    View from an Upper Story Window, the Windmills at Kinderdijk, Netherlands
  • Wrapped Tree, Kalemegdam Park, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Bicycle Leaning Against a Wall in Belgrade, Serbia
    Bicycle Leaning Against a Wall in Belgrade, Serbia
  • Wall and Leaves, Schonbrunn, Palace, Vienna, Austria
    Wall and Leaves, Schonbrunn, Palace, Vienna, Austria
  • Triangle House and Wall, Vukovar, Croatia
    Triangle House and Wall, Vukovar, Croatia
  • Shaped Trees, Melk Abbey, Austria
    Shaped Trees, Melk Abbey, Austria
  • Clouds, Window, MS Maud, In the English Channel.
    Clouds, Window, MS Maud, In the English Channel.
  • Fishing Boat, Danube River, Vukovar, Croatia
    Fishing Boat, Danube River, Vukovar, Croatia
  • Large Sycamore Tree Overhanging a Canal, Bruges, Belgium
    Large Sycamore Tree Overhanging a Canal, Bruges, Belgium

Human vision is limited by the visible light spectrum—approximately 380nm to 780nm. Infrared light is located just beyond the visible light spectrum and may be defined as electromagnetic radiation, approximately 700nm to 1200nm, that is invisible, except in rare experiments,[1] to the human eye. Typical silicone-based digital camera sensors are sensitive to about 1100nm. To match human vision, digital cameras include infrared and ultraviolet-blocking filters. [2] Removal of the blocking filters on a digital camera enables the recording “full spectrum” recording. With the use of lens-attached filters, photographers can selectively record different portions of the spectrum.

  • Window and Ruin, Dunseverick Castle, Northern Ireland, UK
    Window and Ruin, Dunseverick Castle, Northern Ireland, UK
  • Carraig Fhada Lighthouse Walkway, Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland
    Carraig Fhada Lighthouse Walkway, Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland
  • A Study in Contrast, Avebury Stone Circles, Wiltshire, England
    A Study in Contrast, Avebury Stone Circles, Wiltshire, England
  • A Study in Framing, Beech Tree, Bath, England, U.K
    A Study in Framing, Beech Tree, Bath, England, U.K
  • Railing, Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria
    Railing, Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria
  • Entrance, Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria
    Modes of Representation, Entrance Sign, Belogradchik Rocks, Bulgaria
  • Cut Tree, Garenin, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
    Cut Tree, Garenin, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
  • Empty Bench, Kalemegdam Park, Belgrade, Serbia
    Empty Bench, Kalemegdam Park, Belgrade, Serbia
  • Under a Beech Tree, The Circus, Bath, Somerset, England
    Under a Beech Tree, The Circus, Bath, Somerset, England
  • Cloud, Spires, Ely Cathedral, Ely, England
    Small Cloud, Spires, Ely Cathedral, Ely, England
  • Trees and Park Bench, Schonbrunn, Palace, Vienna, Austria
    Trees and Park Bench, Schonbrunn, Palace, Vienna, Austria
  • Branches and Fence, Bucharest Village Museum, Bucharest, Romania
    Branches and Fence, Bucharest Village Museum, Bucharest, Romania
  • Tree and Wall, Bamberg, Germany
    Tree and Wall, Bamberg, Germany

Infrared images are widespread in contemporary visual culture, often seen in digital mapping, night vision, and surveillance imagery, and most recently with the stunning infrared images returned from the Hubble deep space telescope. [3] The unique properties of infrared radiation were discovered in 1800 by the astronomer William Herschel, who conducted a series of experiments with light using thermometers and prisms to measure the heat energy of light. The first infrared recording was created in 1910 by Robert Wood who first noted the unique visual effects of intense black skies and vibrant rendering of trees and green grass, later named the “Wood Effect”—produced by the scattering of light in the cell walls of plants. [4]  Beginning with the black and white infrared photographs of Minor White in the 1950s, the infrared photograph was most often seen in landscape photography and especially with the dramatic brightening of foliage. Given the unrealistic rendering of skin tones caused by the Wood Effect, infrared photography is less often seen with street photography.

  • Table Full of Heads, Flea Market, Bruges, Belgium
    Table Full of Heads, Bruges, Belgium
  • Doll Display, Flea Market, Bruges, Belgium
    Doll Display, Flea Market, Bruges, Belgium
  • Paintings, Flea Market, Bruges, Belgium
    Paintings, Flea Market, Bruges, Belgium
  • Flea Market Display, Bruges, Belgium
    Flea Market Display, Bruges, Belgium
  • Clothing Store Display, Budapest, Hungary
    Clothing Store Display, Budapest, Hungary
  • Dolls and Horses, Window Display, Budapest, Hungary
    Dolls and Horses, Window Display, Budapest, Hungary
  • Rocking Horses, Flea Market Display, Bruges, Belgium
    Rocking Horses, Flea Market Display, Bruges, Belgium
  • Dolls, Window Display, Budapest, Hungary
    Dolls, Window Display, Budapest, Hungary
  • Hair Salon, Ruse, Bulgaria
    Hair Salon, Ruse, Bulgaria
  • Icons, Eastern Orthodox Church, Bucharest, Romania
    Icons, Eastern Orthodox Church, Bucharest, Romania

Street photography in the broadest sense is photography created in public spaces. This ongoing series of photographs continues the long tradition of creating photographs of places, people, and things found in public spaces or on the street. In this series, I experimented with the unique qualities of light created through infrared recording to emphasize the spontaneity, ambiguity, and strangeness of traveling in new places. Using a Lumix SR1 mirrorless digital camera converted to full spectrum recording with used with a 24-105 F/4 Lumix lens outfitted with a 665nm infrared filter. Each photograph was edited first with DxO’s Pure Raw converter, DxO’s Photolab5, Adobe Photoshop, and DxO’s Color Effects plug-in. 

Three Horses, Isle of Man
Three Horses, Isle of Man

Notes:

[1] Human eye can see ‘invisible’ infrared light, Science Daily, December, 2014.

[2] Mangold, Klaus; Shaw, Joseph; Vollmer, Michael, The physics of near-infrared photography, European Journal of Physics.

[3] Federico Pierotti and Alessandra Ronetti, Beyond Human Vision: Towards an Archaeology of Infrared Images, NECSUS, Spring, 2018.

[4] Jack R. White, Herschel and the Puzzle of Infrared, American Scientist, 2023.

David Arnold, January 2023.

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