Marc Vayssieres: Our Marvelous World of Invisible Light

We’re all born with an innate sense of wonder, awe, and amazement about the world around us. As children, we have the innocence and curiosity to become fascinated by nature’s greater and smaller parts and to see their particular uniqueness. However, as we become adults, our perception of the world becomes increasingly conditioned by previous experiences, mental categorizations, and the omnipresence of our thoughts, constantly reflecting on the past or projecting into the future. For Marc, photography is a lifelong endeavor to recapture that childlike sense of beauty and wonder. Using the camera to create images of beauty has taught him that it’s not just about when or where to look but how to see.  

The limits of our senses also condition our perception of the world. Although we see a multitude of colors by mixing the red, green, and blue light our eyes are able to capture, there is the light that remains invisible to us humans.  Animals with eyes that have four types of color receptors, such as some birds, turtles, and fish, can see ultraviolet wavelengths. Their world has a great many more colors than ours. On the other end of the spectrum, some species of snakes, fish, or batrachians can see infrared light. Here again, the camera (appropriately modified to do so) is a tool Marc finds very useful to peek into our marvelous world of invisible light.  All photographs in this exhibit were made with infrared light.