Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine August 2016 | Page 19

Explore | Masterclass

17

MASTERCLASS
Lux Noctis
Reuben Wu
Reuben Wu is
a British photographer
and filmmaker based in
Chicago, USA. He has had
work published in Wired,
Colossal, Hypebeast and
Vice, and has produced
artistic content for Google,
General Electric and IBM.
He loves to explore and
document the terrifying
beauty of extreme
environments where the
edges of reality seem to
blur. You can follow
Reuben on Instagram at
@itsreuben or follow
his work at
www.reubenwu.com.

Lux Noctis is an ongoing series of
photographs depicting landscapes of
North America within the framework
of traditional landscape photography
but influenced by visions of planetary
exploration, 19th-century sublime
romantic painting and science fiction.

Each image is a carefully planned scene consisting
of multiple lighting positions to produce a theatrically
lit composition. Using GPS-enabled aerial light-rigged
drones in specific positions in space, I am able
to produce moods of drama and tension through
contrasts of light and dark and the ability
to illuminate isolated features of a scene
and exclude unwanted elements.

We are overwhelmed every day by beautiful images
of the familiar. I imagine these scenes transformed
into undiscovered landscapes that renew our
perceptions of our world.

These are abstractions of the landscape
photograph, or ‘portraits of the landscape’,
drawing the attention of the viewer only to
the illuminated, in an otherwise overwhelming
and vast picture.

This skeletal landscape comes alive when lit
at night under the dramatic flood of the LED drone
light. Using a drone allowed me to put a light where
it previously could only be done with a helicopter,
crane or balloon, but without the huge cost,
danger or noise.

Lanskap rangka ini terlihat hidup ketika disinari
pada malam hari dengan cahaya dramatis dari lampu
LED drone. Penggunaan drone memungkinkan saya
menempatkan lampu yang sebelumnya cuma bisa
dilakukan dengan helikopter, crane atau balon,
tanpa biaya besar, bahaya atau kebisingan.

Reuben Wu adalah
fotografer dan sineas asal
Inggris yang berbasis di
Chicago, Amerika Serikat.
Karya-karyanya pernah
dipublikasikan di Wired,
Colossal, Hypebeast, dan
Vice, dan ia juga pernah
memproduksi konten
artistik untuk Google,
General Electric, dan
IBM. Kegemarannya
adalah mengeksplorasi
dan mendokumentasikan
keindahan dari lingkungan
ekstrem di mana batasbatas realitas tampak
samar. Anda bisa
mengikuti Ruben lewat
akun Instagram @itsreuben
atau melihat karyakaryanya di reubenwu.com.

Crowley Lake,
California