Hell wie der lichte Tag

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About the dark side of light and illumination in the darkness

Two thirds of the world population have never seen the silvery white fog of the milky way in the night sky. By emitting too much artificial light into the atmosphere, we lighten up the night skies all over the world. The so-called light pollution is not only cause for the death of countless birds and insects, it is also responsible for diseases and psychological disorders in humans.

»Hell wie der lichte Tag« [bright as the light day] is a collection of information on the triggers of light pollution, its characteristics and consequences. To give the reader a profound understanding of the issue, the book starts with a history of artificial light — from the discovery of fire to LED lighting. Subsequently the development and the current situation is posed with associated satellite imagery and photographs of polluted night skies. Concluding with an appeal for the preservation of darkness the book is something like a manifesto for the night. To emphasise the importance of our handling of artificial light the cover is over-printed with transparent glow-in-the-dark screenprint paint. Four different papers support the content of each chapter in the book.

The concept, design and production of this book was part of my bachelor thesis. A special thanks to Volker Crone who supported my work not only with great photography but also for his input concerning the topic. Love goes out to David Turner for his typeface »Adapter« which I used because of its very sharp contrasts.