Reuben Wu Captures Light Paths Above Natural Landscapes

Influenced by ideas of planetary exploration, 19th-century sublime romantic painting and science fiction, photographer Reuben Wu‘s ongoing series Lux Noctis depicts remote natural landscapes seemingly unbound by time and space. Wu continuously explores wondrous natural and manmade forms throughout his practice, such as the blue lava volcanoes of East Java, and the arctic town of Spitsbergen on the Svalbard Archipelago.

“We are overwhelmed everyday by beautiful images of the familiar. I imagine these scenes transformed into undiscovered landscapes which renew our perceptions of our world,” Wu says of his work.

For Lux Noctis, the Chicago-based photographer flies modified drones above largely untouched landscapes, using them as aerial spotlights to cast light paths above the obscure terrain. The mountainous topography remains distant and unreached, yet illuminated in a surreal, romanticized way.

Controlled via GPS, the alien-like light emitted by the drones is only captured through long-exposure photography. In some cases, the drones create perfect circles of light around the rocky peaks, like a halo cast by a UFO. The ambiguity behind Wu’s process makes Lux Noctis almost hypnotic, as you try to figure out what’s going on in each image.

Aside from photography, Wu is a visual artist, industrial designer and music producer, having co-founded the band Ladytron and written and produced tracks for Christina Aguilera. Extensive touring with his music career led him to discover a love for photography, which grew from a hobby into a career. The notion of the journey and global discovery is central to his work, which he combines with a fixation on modern technology and the possibilities it brings to creative storytelling.