Night Vision

Having previously trained her lens on deserted interior spaces (from depots and museums to just-completed residential buildings), Satijn Panyigay has turned her attention to outdoor scenes. For her latest project, Nightcall, the German photographer embarked on solitary nocturnal excursions, both in her home city of Utrecht as well as in Frankfurt am Main – searching for incidental compositions among the structures of urban life.

Her analogue images utilise the ambient glow of the moon and the minimalist lighting of urban spaces in repose. This gives rise to appealing contrasts, and imbues the stark, monotone industrial landscapes with an enigmatic, almost ethereal atmosphere. 

Paradoxically, the absence of people in Panyigay’s photographs creates a sense of presence: Nightcall draws the viewer into a counter-world that mirrors our familiar day-time realities – albeit with a great distance in between.