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Something about your eerie hometown street at night has haunted people for ages. The way darkness can be the visual representation for silence. Most fear the dark, but artist Aakaash Bali finds a very different comfort in the loss of light.

Like most artists – the fascination with their craft started back in their younger years. He took his dad’s camera and never gave it back. When the new digital cameras were first making their appearances, one advertisement caught Aakaash’s eye – and It changed how he would take photos forever. One image the companies used as a nighttime photo of Manhattan. “I looked at that photo and just thought – ‘I didn’t know cameras could take photos like this at night,’” he remarked.

His current pleasure project is the “Shadow District.” This project throws you back in time by placing you in the dark, eerily lit settings that you may miss otherwise. Looking at these photos brings a nostalgic comfort to some or an unsettling sense of “I feel like I wasn’t supposed to be here.”

When asked why he chooses to photograph the night rather than a well-lit natural light scene, he responds, “Darkness gives the setting a sense of silence so that the subject can make all the noise.”

More info: Instagram

#1

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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How Terribly Unfortunate
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really like how the sky is blotted gray in a way in which the sign both stands out and blends in.

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#3

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Podunkus
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss are inside there somewhere.

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#6

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Jane S.
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If stepping through that door doesn't take me to an alternate universe, I want my money back.

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#9

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Terd Fergison
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Psychics are frauds and grief vampires. They prey on people that want to speak to their dead loved ones. They give lies and false hope while price gouging their victims. This fraud should be outlawed and criminalized.

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#11

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Tiny Dynamine
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right now, this feels like the right place to stand outside and have a smoke. It's probably because I'm trying to quit smoking. :D

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#13

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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KatHat
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is in Houston! I know exactly where that is and I've always thought it was fun and quirky.

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Jane S.
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are we sure that's a motel? Because I feel like it's probably not a motel.

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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#32

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Rory Ell
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

and in the widow you can see four murdered kids being put in animal suits and a man making a theory on it

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#34

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow! A real department store! Takes me back, maybe too far back!

#35

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Robert Bailey
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That angle makes the sign look like it's on the building in the foreground. And much smaller than it really is.

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#36

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hmm... Pizza, deli, Italian ice. I'm guessing this isn't a Chinese neighborhood.

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to work in one of those. If the boss ever saw that many lights on after hours, he'd have a cow!

#39

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait. Are we on the inside looking out? In that case the sign would be backwards from the street... If we're outside looking in, what's all that stuff doing on the sidewalk after they closed? It's a conundrum I tell ya! I do like that neon diamond though, reminds me of Pink Floyd...

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#42

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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#43

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Like the sign! I'm guessing that is a reliable repair shop. Clean and necessary equipment in the window, lights on means valuable tools inside, inspection station is a good sign, visibly displayed phone and licence numbers, and clean concrete in front. I know my repair shops!

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#46

Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Sam T Godfrey
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow! That's a real nice neon find! There were a few near me that I wished I could get somehow. A giant neon bowling ball and pin, a drive-in move entrance sign, and a neon Mobil gas station pegasus logo, not to mention the wall sign at my shop... vintage-mo...7729c4.jpg vintage-mobil-pegasus-winged-horse-sign-dusty-maps-5e5bfc97729c4.jpg

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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Photographer’s Unhealthy Obsession With Neon Signs Will Transport You Back In Time

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