Light Pollution

by Jen Dolen

11x14 framed • photographic inket print $$150

I shot this picture while making photographs of the aurora thirty miles outside Fairbanks, Alaska. We'd driven out of town to escape the light pollution. The coveted aurora was occurring behind and above me when I turned to glance back at where we'd come. The electric lights we disdained looked lovely in their own way, a warm orange glow contrasting the pure, cool green hues we'd been observing. I lengthened the exposure to thirty seconds so the subtle edges saturate more to brighten the horizon in a mimic of sunrise. Ironically, a car drove by while the camera's shutter was open, illuminating the foreground trees and adding another layer of light pollution to the image.