Page 27 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 4 #2

Editor's Note: We would like to thank Mike Grady, Professor of Art at Appalachian State
University, for this insightful and carefully considered piece. We hope it is the first of many.

We understand that the idea that art emerges from darkness into light, as well as the idea that
art is rebellion against death, is not common place. It is not how people think about art. From
our perspective, Professor Grady is quite correct. One need only look at the work of Caravag-
gio, de la Tour, Rembrandt, as Professor Grady has noted, to see that this is precisely how they
created. In their work, beauty emerges from darkness. Were there no darkness, there would be
no beauty. In fact, we - The House of NyghtFalcon - see our work as a direct extension of theirs.
Falcon has long acknowledge Rembrandt as the "father" of our style.

We would also remind the reader that the "Gothic" edge associated with our work is rooted, as
Falcon has often noted, with the Hideggerean idea that we emerge from darkness at birth and
return to that darkness at death. Given Falcon's visual problems, primarily his inability to see
color in light most of the time, there is an ironic truth Professor Grady's argument.

We
start from darkness and bring forth light. This idea of light
and darkness runs counter to conventional ideas of form and

space, – of the ability of a photograph or a poem to impose
form upon emptiness. Falcon has never fit in. He teaches and writes and

speaks and shoots photos and makes love all at the same time - all in the
dark. He has written a book entitled "The Moon Is a Jealous Mistress" which,

like its author, is at first hard to understand. Many of the ideas put forward
are familiar, – some are unique, – but all are offered to the reader with a sense

of personal engagement and intimate experience that seems to run counter
to the conventions of writing a book about photography. Falcon discusses

his technique and philosophy of photography as a personal journey.

He maintains that emotion and passion cannot be separated from the

creative experience or the basic experience of perception and cognition.
So, he weaves inspired discussions of the apparently disparate subjects

of neurophysiology, philosophy, literature, love affairs, personal adversity
and the physics of photo-optics into a beautifully produced and visually

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