FLASHIN' LIGHTS

I've always loved lights. AND bright colours. They're so easy for my simple mind to enjoy.

Neon in particular being one of my favourites. It's so synonymous with our western culture and the things we have grown to love but those around us perhaps pretend to hate. You name it off licence signs, chicken 'n' chip shops, sauna signs, nightclubs, advertisements and city living and all the other bombardments that filter through into our visual spectrum. Any town or city can count its stake in the world economy by its light count. Think Trafalgar Square, Tokyo, Times Square, and it's obvious how much light, colour and it's love child neon are dancing seductively for all to see (enjoy?).

Ultimately light provides us with a certain comfort associated with safety, warmth and sunlight. ALL signs of health and perhaps prosperity. I mean the most successful can afford to have lighting 24/7. What neon and the colour and lighting in cities does is probably strip away that natural yearning for light and demands that its version will be more direct and perhaps even fake (perhaps this what city dwellers want?) but that's a different debate. What is clear though is as we move towards a more consumer, market driven global climate it's no suprise that artificial light, colour and neon are all moving with us.

I'll soon be embarking on my own neon and extreme colour hits mission and creating a photographic portfolio of those that hit me right between the eyes.

In the meantime wander around your local town/city/village and see what colourful and neon delights you can revel in.

Or if you can't be asked to move that far hit here! And inform yourself with Louisianan artist Keith Sonnier (IMG 2+3). Wiki says of his use of light installations - "one of the most successful with this technique".

OR

Jelly Fish.

kiss.