'dark light' re-submission

This practice-led photographic research project considers the concept of the real in photographic production. It is located in relation to post-modern discourses of simulation, the image and consciousness, and seeks to draw parallels between the mechanisms at play in the construction of images -particularly photographic ones - and the construction of architectures and the domesticated landscape. More specifically the research will focus on military defence structures and how they can be seen to embody societies' belief structures.

Specific architectures arise in relation to particular material and symbolic conditions. The significations of such structures change according to their context. In turn, these structures become part of how we understand the world. For example, the references to Greek and Roman architecture in Fascism may have changed how we perceive classicism for generations. By pulling into focus the specificities of each space to be photographed -on the one hand the military defence structures from the Second World War and on the other contemporary military test areas in the deserts of the American West- and by juxtaposing these contrasting sites the images will highlight the belief systems that have come to play a role in the physical makeup of each site.

These themes of the relationship between representation, perception and architecture will be explored through a series of highly staged, artificially lit, large-scale, night photographs, which reference cinematic modes of production. Through their own artificiality these images will also seek to interrogate the authenticity of other photographic images.

The research will be disseminated in the form of a one-person exhibition at one of the leading contemporary art galleries in Athens (A. Anotonopoulo Art). Dates for a subsequent exhibition of this project at 'photofusion', London are currently being negotiated. The project will have a designated webpage on the research pages of the School of Arts and Cultures, University of Newcastle, which will be targeted at an academic audience.

The research contributes to and expands on existing discourse in the fields of interest outlined above. It will contribute to discussions and create new fields of interest by specifically focusing on the role of cinematic imagery in their impact on military sites, a discourse, which is particularly pertinent in the current political climate.