Ahmed Al‑Mashraie, photographs

Night Work

digital photographs, handheld and long exposure. 13 images.

Made between roughly ten at night and four in the morning, when the only things still working are the streetlights and the sky. The moon is an uncooperative subject and moves faster than it looks. One of these is a ten second exposure taken while standing very still in the cold.

Bare snow-dusted trees at night lit by a single park lamp, its glow diffusing through falling snow and branches
Abstract near-black night sky with faint stars and wisps of cloud, an ultra-narrow vertical crop
Abstract dark storm clouds streaking across a nearly black sky in muted grey tones
A bright moon flaring beside a wisp of cloud in a dark starry night sky
A park lamp glowing warm orange amid a tangle of bare tree branches against the night sky
Empty night street intersection with a glowing traffic signal and 'Russell Rd' street sign, rain-slicked crosswalk reflecting light
Starry night sky with a faint diagonal trail crossing the frame, silhouetted tree branches tinged orange in one corner
A gibbous moon glowing faintly through wispy dark clouds in a moody night sky
Wide night sky panorama of red and green aurora borealis glowing above a starlit horizon of illuminated houses
Wispy blue-grey clouds filling a dusk sky above a dark silhouetted treeline, a thin band of warm color at the horizon
A large full moon rising beside a silhouetted utility pole and power lines at dusk
A bright full moon glowing through a tangle of bare winter tree branches against a dark night sky
A lone illuminated tree on a suburban lawn at night beneath a dramatic sky glowing orange and blue from storm light

Open Ground

digital photographs, daylight and dusk. 10 images.

Ridgelines, overlooks, lake edges, dunes. The Adirondacks, the Hudson Highlands, and Jabal An-Nabi Shu'ayb, the highest ground in the Arabian Peninsula. The scale is the whole problem: none of it fits in the frame, and a phone flattens whatever is left. What survives is mostly evidence of having walked up there.

Close-up black-and-white abstract of river water breaking over a lip, lace-like foam patterns against dark water
Black-and-white view of a calm lake beneath a dramatic sky, sunlight breaking through streaked clouds above a silhouetted shoreline
Two hikers walking along a rocky ridge trail engulfed in thick fog, visibility reduced to silhouettes
Calm lake shoreline with a pebble beach in the foreground, rippling water stretching toward tree-lined hills under a cloudy sky
Sweeping view over a forested river valley from a rocky overlook, a wide bend of water framed by hazy ridgelines under a pale blue sky
Dusk view from a cliff edge over a silhouetted fortress ruin and rolling valley, a pale moon rising in the blue sky
Pastel purple and pink sunset sky over green terraced hillsides and a cultivated valley
Golden storm clouds glowing at sunset over silhouetted desert mountains and rocky foreground terrain
Wind-rippled snow along a beach at sunrise, a wooden fence line leading toward an orange horizon over the ocean
Sunlight breaking through a dramatic cloud formation over silhouetted mountains, purple wildflowers and a boulder in the foreground

Understory

digital photographs, close range. 7 images.

Taken at arm's length instead of across a valley. Moss, vines, a spider web, water coming down rock. Most of these were made on days when the view was fogged in and there was nothing further away worth pointing at.

Looking up through a dense forest canopy as sunbeams cut through the branches and haze
Wooden boardwalk winding through bare winter trees above a river, a city skyline visible in the hazy distance
A spider web strung between sunlit branches, backlit and glistening amid green forest foliage
Low sun flaring through silhouetted pine trees on a forested hillside, warm autumn light breaking through the canopy
A mossy rock face streaked with a trickling waterfall beneath a canopy of backlit golden autumn leaves, sunlight breaking through on the right
Three hikers with backpacks walking single file along a fallen-leaf trail through a bare autumn forest
Looking up a moss-covered rock cliff face with thin vines and bright green leaves hanging against the dark stone

At a Distance

digital photographs, dusk to midnight. 9 images.

Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Sana'a. Mostly at the edges of them: from across the water, from a dark hillside, from the bottom of a stairwell. This is the only subject here that could look back, and it does not. Shot between dusk and midnight, when a city is at its most legible and least occupied.

Aerial night view of a city's teal-lit grid from a dark hillside, a car's red tail light glowing in the foreground
Twilight view up a dense city street between illuminated skyscrapers, pedestrians and taxis blurred in motion at street level
A bare, sculptural dead tree silhouetted against a cloudy dusk sky in front of an ornate stone building facade
City plaza at night decorated with illuminated holiday lights, a glowing tree, snowflake light sculpture, and an arch beside historic buildings
Night view up a cluster of illuminated skyscrapers on John F. Kennedy Boulevard, blue accent lights tracing one tower's facade
Dark gothic stone stairwell lit by two ornate multi-bulb lamps, arched stonework and columns rising into shadow behind the banister
Brooklyn Bridge and the illuminated Manhattan skyline at night, reflections shimmering on the water below
Silhouetted tree branches framing a dusk street scene below, parked cars and a streetlamp glowing through the leaves
Narrow alley in an old walled city at sunset, ornately decorated multi-story buildings lined with triangular bunting flags