Night-time Economy

Many cities and their residents are adapting to the needs of a 24/7 society where work and lifestyle habits revolve around the global forces of late capitalism. As our lifestyles change to suit the demands of work, there are many social and economic opportunities in expanding the nighttime economy. Cities have developed innovative ways of lighting central areas and extending opening hours, to create vibrant social scenes and in turn boost local economies. Artificial light however, is globally one of the most widely distributed forms of anthropogenic pollution. Artificial lighting masks natural monthly and seasonal regimes of lunar sky brightness in cities and increases the number and annual regime of full moon equivalent hours available to organisms during the night. The changes have potentially profound ecological consequences. This photographic series taken at locations across the Netherlands reflects on the impact of the night-time economy, from 24-hour lit Green houses in The Westland to the futuristic vision of Rotterdam's Maasvlakte port area. The night-time has primarily been a space of wildness and wilderness, dominated by nocturnal plants, organisms and wild life. As we encroach further into this space, how much are we altering environmental cycles as well as our own primarily domesticated and day-time nature?