Liza Dracup is a photographer and academic based in the north of England. She is dedicated to highlighting the cultural value of local environments and communities, and to presenting a more informed, comprehensive and enriched idea of northern landscapes and their natural history. Dracup takes on this challenge by finding, and sharing, the extraordinary in the everyday. It’s an approach that has led to several prestigious awards nominations, including the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize and Prix Pictet.
Sharpe’s Wood explores the transformational potential of northern woodlands at night. The artist used ambient light sources and extended exposures to capture the landscape in an “in-between” state: blurring the lines between day and night, urban and rural, light and dark. Even in the early hours of the morning, the trees are not entirely plunged into darkness; the glow of streetlights, transient traffic and moonlight still adds luminescence to the scene. Dracup’s images reveal a spectrum of “hidden” colours not always available to the human eye, including deep indigoes, luminous greens, rich yellows and reds.
The series captures the seasons changing from autumn to winter – a time period which proved to be particularly visually interesting. Dracup says: “These months, when more of our waking hours are spent in darkness, were the most productive for my research. The colour palette shifted and the flora in the woodland changed. Winter snow lightened areas of the night wood, and the dominant yellow sodium streetlight contrasted with the photographically visualised aquamarine sky, invisible to the naked eye.”
Words: Emma Jacob
All images courtesy of Liza Dracup.
