Arranged neatly in two rows at eye level are the black and white photographs of Ed Healy, a 2004 Exhibition Award winner. His exhibit, entitled "Buffalo at Night," opened in the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts's Passageway Gallery at the Market Arcade on Feb. 4, and runs through March 19.
Longtime resident Ed Healy transforms Buffalo's architecture and urban landscapes into creatures of the night that no longer resemble their daytime fa?\0xA4ade. The stark contrast of the black and white photos accentuates the difference between night and day. Healy, inspired by artists Brassai, Bill Brandt and Michael Kenna, wanted to see if he could capture a night landscape in a similar way.
"Buffalo at Night" incorporates civic monuments, industrial sites and suburbia under the mask of darkness. Healy darkens his images by using natural light, the soft glow of the full moon as well as the artificial light of the city.
"I've always been attracted to high-contrast black-and-white images and intrigued by the emotional resonance of the light in night photographs," said Healy. "Once I successfully made a few night images, I got hooked."
Streetlights, headlights and the moon reflecting off still water bathe the landscapes with a surreal luminescence. In some photos, Healy captures that fleeting moment between night and day. The calming stillness can be felt through his enchanting photos.
The striking industrial photographs evoke a feeling of peace and tranquility. Such perceptions are highlighted by the harsh reality of an old steel city's remaining skeleton. The majestic relics of the past take on a new life - one of beauty rather than the existing eyesore some believe Buffalo is today.
"I find that Buffalo resonates at night with a very distinct poetry of place and my photos are an attempt to capture that ambience," Healy said.
The artist spends a lot of time in his car, looking for possible subjects. Some sites just won't yield a satisfactory image, despite repeated photographic attempts. Healy's favorite image on display is "Old First Ward Full Moon," because of the unusual circumstances in taking it.
He had finished making an exposure of the grain elevators that he was not very confident would result in a usable image when he turned around and was confronted with a breathtaking sky, extremely eerie clouds and a full moon that was reflecting off the railroad tracks.
"You need to be open to the role chance can play in making photographs," he said.
Healy continues to make night photographs, but is presently caught up in a new project creating daytime color panoramic landscapes using stitching software and digi-print printing technology. These photos are panoramas that range from four to eight feet in length.
This type of photograph was not even possible as recently as three years ago.
"The technology simply did not exist," Healy said. "So it's fun to be an early adapter of a technology that's expanding the scope of what's possible in photography."
The Western New York photographer is a graduate of UB and the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. In the mid-80's, Healy studied photography at SUNY-Purchase in White Plains, N.Y. He began experimenting with infrared landscapes, light imagery and pinhole imagery.
"For me, photography is something I have to do," he said. "It's the thrill of the hunt, seeking out the rare occasion when landscape and light come together in a way that may make a great photograph."
It is inspiring to see Buffalo in a new light.
Or dark.
