I See a Darkness

Synopsis

Shot in Paris, Death Valley, and the Nevada nuclear test site, this film essay examines the complex historical relationship between photography, cinema and science. The film explores the impact of chrono-photographic experiments of Irish-born Lucien Bull (1876 - 1972) on the developments of image-capture aesthetics and science throughout the 20th century, showing how technologies of vision were aggressively instrumentalised by the military-industrial complex, particularly by the nuclear testing industry. Using rarely-seen nuclear test footage alongside more poetic images and new film from the nuclear test site in Nevada, I See A Darkness questions cinema's relationship with the material world, with contributions from leading philosophers and writers.