Dreams

Dreams: Selections from Easton Nights by Peter Ydeen.

Dreams features a selection of works from Peter Ydeen’s Easton Nights series. Ydeen has been photographing the Easton, Pennsylvania area since 2015. He takes inspiration from the work of noted American photographer George Tice, who captured images of American life and landscape.

Ydeen explores the Easton area at night, discovering the ethereal presence of contrasts and colors. As if lighting a classical still life or stage set, Ydeen takes advantage of the lights in the city which highlight his subjects. Bathed in the pink light emitted by the sodium vapor streetlights, Easton becomes a silent city lit in unreal color.

These scenes share a familiarity with countless American cities during the quiet of night. The temporarily abandoned spaces reflect the citizens who built and occupy them during daylight. The remnants of decades of development offer a portrait of a community in absentia. For Ydeen, creating the series was both addictive and cathartic. What started as a photographic exercise became an intimate interaction with the quiet shapes and exotic lights of a sometimes-forgotten American city.