Ultraviolet

Several early photographic processes were sensitive to only a narrow portion of the visible spectrum. Those weighted toward blue and ultraviolet light rendered human skin darker, denser, almost metallic — bodies transformed by the limits of what the medium could see.

My modified camera works in much the same way. It records only ultraviolet light, producing images that fall outside ordinary vision. Ultraviolet portraiture is often avoided, believed to exaggerate so-called imperfections. I don’t share that belief. I don’t believe in flaws. What ultraviolet reveals, to me, is a different kind of presence — a beauty that exists just beyond what we’re taught to recognize.