One Beam of Light is a global photography project run by Light Collective, seeking to ‘inspire and engage people interested in lighting’ by gathering a collection of photographs, all capturing a single beam of light and the beauty it can create. We took a trip down to the exhibition at the ICA, London from 16th-20th April, to check out the 31 shortlisted images.
The show exhibits a huge variety of work, and although sharing the focus of the single light source, the photographers have used very different methods and materials to capture the light; some natural and spontaneous, others synthetic and constructed.
Our favourite image was ‘Cool Beams’ by Katie Handchard-Goodwin (University of Glamorgan), who captured the geometric shadow play in a flight of stairs.
Another stand out image is Light Scape 2 by Nic Newton (Studio of Cinematic Architecture) using a camera, beam of light, water and paint, to create this beautiful fluid movement.
Light Fall by Celine Deceuninck (Electric & Arts, Belgium), uses natural moonlight flooding into a disused basement, to evoke a dramatic, cinematic feel to the scene.
Yin Yang by Paolo Portaluri (HPPH, Spain) captures the contrast of light and dark in the ‘everyday’.
You can view the full range of shortlisted images at the One Beam of Light website , as well as a full gallery of all images submitted to the project.