Rage Against the Light

Book excerpt: Rage Against The LightPlace: Sydney CBD. Or a city anywhere. Time: Mostly daytime yet feels like night.Era: Early 21st century. Mood: Dark but hopeful.Light: Dramatic. Sydney is a city in the midst of a development boom. Skyscrapers. Cranes. Man-made environment. Concrete. Few trees. Mirrored surfaces. Windows magnifying light. Consumer advertising expressing people's desires. Impersonal at heart.There are signs of life amid the cold abstractions of architecture. People scurry about being literally exposed by light. They are struck by shafts between buildings like insects coming out for food. Solitary male figures appear as different identities. A man in a suit, dragging on a cigarette is lost in thought.Street photography is a genre with a long history (Garry Winogrand, Daido Moriyama, Trent Parke). The CBD is a favorite haunt. Some photographers seek out people or emphasize a sense of isolation in the crowd. Others evoke a haunting mood empty of human presence. Markus Andersen does both, loving the tradition of black and white (high contrast), square format and abstraction. With very deliberate cropping and enterprising juxtapositions he reveals his skill for graphic design. He aligns the elements of people and place to make a wryly humourous visual haiku. The Leunig of photography.Markus Andersen's photographs describe an experience familiar to us. It is exciting and full of promise to go to the CBD and yet it can leave us feeling empty. We go home only temporarily satiated. This essay is rich with worldly wisdom. There is satisfaction in the vision shared. It celebrates the humanity of the self and its endless creative ability to interpret. This is the role of the artist. It casts light on our experience by speaking from the heart. Markus Anderson sheds light on our love of life and our love of light.