Photographer Sean Paris tells PetaPixel that people have complimented him on his “Photoshopped pink series” which leads to a slightly awkward conversation explaining that his infrared photos look like that straight out of the camera.
Using a modified Nikon D800 DSLR, Paris set about documenting rural Australia with his camera that sees both visible and infrared light.
“I wanted to shoot this project in infrared as this photographic technique helps pinpoint objects that are often overlooked,” he explains. “This technique is unique as the plant matter reflects the infrared light that naturally occurs; you cannot see this with the human eye, but most man-made things will not reflect infrared light.”
Paris chose the unusual infrared format for his project Koala Country which saw him travel the vast Australian outback in search of interesting pictures of which there are plenty thanks to the country’s “big things” and unique establishments.
“I often look for quirky things like Australia’s “big things,” which can range from giant koalas to giant bushrangers. These are created to draw in tourism to small towns or old historic signs and buildings that often have incredible stories behind them, but sometimes it doesn’t always work the way you want it,” he explains.
“Certain signs or buildings can reflect the light in different ways, and sometimes you might see an incredible old sign, but the text is barely visible in infrared light. The worst situation with this technique is cloud cover, with which you can’t create consistency with the images as this makes everything murky, so I shoot as much as I can when traveling along highways and through small towns when the sun is shining to make the most of my time.”
Seeing Invisible Light
The human eye can see light within the visible spectrum, which ranges approximately from 380 nanometers to 700 nanometers (nm). This range includes all the colors that humans perceive in a rainbow.
However, infrared light has wavelengths longer than visible light; from about 700 nm to 1 micrometer (mm). Paris sent his D800 to a company in Melbourne called Imaging by Design so it could have a full-spectrum conversion meaning it can see UV light (which has a shorter wavelength than visible light) as well as infrared.
“To achieve the type of light you want to work with, you have to use specific lens filters. For this project, I have used the Kolari Vision 590 nanometer filter. This filter is a combination of visible light and infrared light, which creates an image that is more relatable to the human eye compared to higher-spectrum filters.”
A Different World
Paris, who grew up in rural Australia, says he wanted to capture the area’s “quirkiness, history, and culture” for future generations to enjoy.
“Depending on the towns, infrastructure, and remoteness, these places represent a unique time capsule in their histories. Some are thriving, some are not. As the modern world moves forward, I believe a lot of these places should be preserved and nurtured, and I hope one day this project will help with that.”
More of Paris’ work can be found on his website and Instagram.
Image credits: Photographs by Sean Paris.