-
- Silos
-
- Erebus
-
- Nyx
-
- Hal
-
- Tartarus
-
- Xenomorph
-
- Titans
-
- Watcher
-
- Serpentine
-
- Katabasis
-
- Sentinel
-
- Avernos
-
- Thanatos
-
- Palici
-
- Matrix
-
- Scout
-
- Archeron
-
- Oizys
-
- Moros
-
- Periphery
Michael Burka
Darkness at Noon
What do you see in darkness?
At first glance, this work is an exploration of the shape and texture of common objects in the urban environment. To emphasize their visual characteristics, I have detached the objects from their surroundings, darkened their backgrounds, and removed their coloration. Severed from their underlying identity, I seek to accentuate the geometries of the objects I’ve photographed while eliminating reference to their use, location, or scale.
What began as an exploration of forms grew into a conceptual study of abstraction. What I choose to reveal and to conceal can elicit an emotional response that is untethered from the true nature of the subject, and the response may differ from one viewer to the next. That is the magic of darkness.
As you look longer, do the objects you see remain purely abstract? Do you view them as simple shapes or do you try to guess their origin? Does your mind, accustomed as it is to making connections, seek to impose a contextual framework? If so, what do the shadows foreshadow? What stories do you create?
The project title, Darkness at Noon, is a double entendre. While these may have the appearance of nighttime photos, they were captured in full midday sunlight. It is also the title of a 1940 novel by Arthur Koestler, a book that vividly describes the torments of mid-20th century totalitarianism. How might the feelings that the photographs evoke echo those in the novel? It depends upon what you see in the darkness.
-Michael Burka
Artist Bio
Michael Burka is a Boston area photographer who creates abstract depictions of objects in the urban environment. He was initially drawn to photography for its technology: the physics of the camera and the chemistry of the darkroom. He spent his professional career developing scientific optical instrumentation, a path that was influenced by his teenage photographic passion.
Michael has studied street photography with Amy Thompson Avishai, compositing and printing with Sue Anne Hodges, and portfolio development with Emily Belz, all at the Griffin Museum of Photography. His work has been shown in the Griffin Museum’s 2023 Our Town exhibition. Michael holds a B.A. in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University.