Mike Kesler

Night Photography - Photography between dusk and dawn: Using long exposure times, a vast assortment of flashlights, strobes and environmental lighting, not only to capture the moment - but to bring life into dead places, to show the spirit of the past and create the illusion of a parallel universe. When the sun goes down and mankind goes to sleep, dead things come to life!

Being american, but grown up in Germany, I experienced different cultures. Learning about the European past, i learned to value history. While traveling historic places overseas, i started getting into photography to capture the things i saw. Switching to digital photography in 1997 was a chance to become more experimental and try different styles and techniques in photography.

After moving to Oklahoma, living right next to Route 66 and the American West, I started searching for remains of past times. Exploring Route 66, trying to find what is left of americas "Mother Road", i ran across roadside curiosities, ghost tones and relicts of times long gone.

Trying to find more information about some of the places i found, i came across the work of Troy Paiva, one of the fathers of night phoropraphy. Inspired by Troys work, using moonlight, artificial light and theatrical lighting gels, i started to focus on nocturnal work. Not to show what every person can see during broad daylight. But to reanimate places that are long gone and to provide a view into a parallel dimension, in which those places are still alive

Always scouting for locations to shoot, sometimes it can be hard to find places that are accessible and safe to work at. If you know a location that would make the perfect place for a photo shoot, please go ahead and tell me!