Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

InspirationPhotography

Light On: Photographer Franck Bohbot captures the fascinating side of cities at night

Franck Bohbot is a French photographer whose latest project Light On captures cities and their storefronts at night. His work is rooted in his fascination with cinematographic iconography, and his thematics study the relationship between the individual and architecture. While manipulating colour with great precision, Bohbot highlights the soft subtleties of this relationship by playing with melancholic light and chromatics.

Written By:
All images copyright and courtesy of Franck Bohbot

All images copyright and courtesy of Franck Bohbot

The long exposures and natural light enable him to capture the essence and the breath of these deserted spaces, carrying the ghostly traces of abandoned social landmarks. As such, Bohbot immortalises everything from swimming pools, basketball courts, libraries, theatres, cinemas, train stations and fairs – a plethora of structures through which he balances the power of architecture with the poetry of everyday spaces.

As Kelly Richman explains on Bohbot's website: "While each structure is either brightly lit by fluorescence or bathed in a wash of neon, the photographs are rendered in subdued pastels and filtered through a hazy fog. This aesthetic, along with the predominant absence of people, results in a melancholic atmosphere reminiscent of Edward Hopper paintings and evocative of staged theatrical sets – further conveying the relationship between Bohbot’s real-life surroundings and the artificial touch of theatre.

"Retro in appearance yet contemporary by nature, the photographs featured in Light On convey an illuminated aesthetic that both celebrates modernity and longs for the past in an ironically ageless paradox."

Neon heart signs illuminate a multi-storey storefront at night with a gift shop and exchange booth on the ground floor, decorated with garland and greenery
Neon signs for Sal's Brooklyn Diner glow red and yellow above the storefront at night, with lit windows above and a bicycle parked in front
Two Boots video rental shop storefront illuminated at night on a wet city street, with brick building above and neon signage glowing in warm tones
Neon-lit Katz's Delicatessen storefront at night with illuminated vertical signage and historic brick building facade in New York City
McDonald's storefront illuminated at night on a city street, flanked by Art Deco buildings and Aldo fashion advertisements
Show World Center storefront with neon signage and marquee advertising 25-cent adult movies, photographed at night in teal and coral tones
Illuminated convenience store on a city corner at night, with a cyclist riding past on a crosswalk, surrounded by residential buildings and parked cars
Neon-lit vintage cinema marquee displaying "VOYEL" in pink and blue letters above glass entrance doors with turquoise detailing and a few figures standing outside at night
A brightly lit blue SKATE sign on a low-rise building with green tiling at night, surrounded by tall illuminated apartment buildings and the Washington Monument in the distance
Neon-lit Cafe Wha storefront at night with illuminated signage and wet pavement, photographed by Franck Bohbot for his Light On series
A brick storefront with "Italian Food Center" signage glows beneath fire escapes on a quiet city street at dusk
Brightly lit storefront of Sugar Café at night, displaying signage for breakfast, burgers, coffee, sandwiches and gelato, with empty tables visible through large windows
Radio City Music Hall illuminated at night with neon signage, surrounded by art deco skyscrapers under a teal sky, an empty street stretching before it
Share

Further Reading