Kevin Cooley and the lights captured in his photography

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Kevin Cooley is a photographer from Brooklyn, that loves to play with lights and shadows in his work.

One of his famous photographic series is entitled 'Nachtfluge' and is based on the bright trails that airplanes leave when they take off.

To create this particular images, he went to the main airports in the United States and utilized a photographic camera of big dimensions, keeping the subject in long exposure, waiting for the airplanes to pass by and capture them as they're about to fly away.
Thanks to his intense study of lights and movements, Cooley chose the location carefully and produced a collection of captivating and serene views that blend perfectly with those long trails of light.
In another one of his series called 'Take Refuge', the photographer concentrates on places covered in snow that act as a background for almost mystical crepuscular lights. An intense and bright light in such a gloomy landscape, coming from a source that we can't always tell apart.
One of the main characteristics of his work is how isolated the locations he decides to capture are, leaving a strong sensation of wait and suspension. Cooley manages to portray perfectly both urban and natural landscapes, letting the light be the absolute protagonist of his photos.
About how he started with photography, he explains: "There was a time when I would just go out for the whole day to shoot, forcing myself to make work, every when I didn't want to. While it was a very disciplined way to work, it didn't exactly yield the best imagery.

These days when I pick up a camera it is for the express purpose of photographing something already planned in advance. I feel that I do a better job looking at the world without trying to looking through a view finder at the same time.

I only use the camera as a tool once I know exactly what it is I want to photograph. It's a means for me to reflect upon my view of the world in a carefully crafted and precise manner. "