It’s All About the Light

Back in the day when I was studying art history in college, we studied Van Gogh and the fact that he made such a big deal about the quality of the light in the south of France, in comparison to the light in Holland. It was something that I didn’t really understand at the time. I figured that the light was just the light. How could it be so different from one place to another? I grew up in Florida where there is an abundance of gorgeous light and I assumed it would be the same everywhere else in the world. It wasn’t until I started travelling that I realised that there is a difference—an enormous difference. And I think that when I realised this difference, when I became acutely aware of the light and how it behaved in different environments, was when I really started to grow as a photographer.

© Mark Routt 2012

Dry Tortugas, Florida

Jonesboro, Maine

Death Valley, California

Valley of Fire, Nevada