As stars pass

As stars pass. 2013.

The scene is really about two versions of time sitting on top of each other. Down low, the river is all movement and noise, tumbling over stones, constantly rearranging the foreground. Up above, time stretches into slow arcs of light, each star trail a line drawn by the planet turning. The long exposure lets both exist in the same frame, the water turned to mist and the sky to handwriting.

The small string of house lights on the left is important, a reminder that people are tucked into this valley, sleeping while the river and sky keep working. The photograph is meant to feel like a pause taken on a long journey, standing alone by the water, aware of your own breath and the sheer amount of time flowing past in every direction.

24 mm • f/2.0 • 461 sec • ISO 100