Photography is an art, but night time photography is a marvel and rarity. Inspired by the quote “80% of the world’s population will die without seeing the Milky Way”, Ian van Straaten, who hails from Middleburg, loves
to photograph the night sky.
Photography is an art, but night time photography is a marvel and rarity. Inspired by the quote “80% of the world’s population will die without seeing the Milky Way”, Ian van Straaten, who hails from Middleburg, loves
to photograph the night sky.
Having grown up in the Karoo, which is where he takes most of his pictures, he is well acquainted with the beautiful, harsh landscape and the stunningly beautiful starry skies.
Van Straaten began taking night time photographs five years ago after reading the above quote, and since then, it has become his passion.
He is exhibiting a selection of his photographs called Karoo Nights at the Albany Natural Sciences Museum, during the National Arts Festival.
The exhibition is run in conjunction with a small coffee shop called Nicky E, which is run by his friend Nicky Enslin, who is also selling some interesting silver jewellery.
Van Straaten feels that the coffee shop adds an extra element to the exhibition, which allows viewers to relax.
The idea behind the coffee shop and the exhibition was that he will be turning 40 this year and he had to do something special and different for his birthday.
Van Straaten studied photography in Bloemfontein, from where he moved on and worked as a freelancer for Rooi Rose, Rapport and Die Volksblad.
He first wanted to become a war photographer, focussing on victims caught in the crossfire and how they go about life in war zones.
Van Straten was the first student to hold a one man exhibition at the opening of Parliament in 1994 and has also had exhibitions at the KKNK in Oudshoorn.
In his routine of taking night time photos, he goes out during the day and surveys the landscape he plans to incorporate into the shot.
Then he returns to work his magic, using a low exposure which often picks up on stars and clouds that, due to the artificial light around us, we can’t always see with the naked eye.
He travels around the Karoo and starts his work one hour after sunset and stops one hour before sunrise. As an ‘old school’ photographer, using film instead of digital, he eliminates the use of software such as Photoshop, which is used to enhance digital images.
He uses one camera and one lens, using maximum exposure to get the maximum amount of light out of the darkness.
“A lot of artists come to my exhibition and my photographs are a source of inspiration for them,’’ he says. He likes to challenge himself by doing something different,to think out of the box, a trait that is clearly visible in his work.
This is his first time exhibiting at the National Arts Festival and so far he is enjoying it, saying that he finds the melting pot of the cultures as his favourite aspect of Fest.
He hopes to be back at next year’s Arts Festival, but acknowledges that getting good and prominent space is not easy.
