For three years, Caleb Cain Marcus has been photographing what Robert Frank calls, in his haiku-esque preface to this volume, “the light of night.” The black-and-white photographs collected in The Silent Aftermath of Space explore the silent and haunting experience of walking alone after dark on the streets of New York City. Caleb Cain Marcus savors the strange solitude that follows the familiar crowded confinement of the city's daylight life; amid vacated construction sites, empty pews in churches, parking lots, and subway tunnels, an eerily placid beauty resounds, consuming spaces that were once filled with bustle and chaos. As each shot marks the passing of another night, the collection accumulates a quiet, consistent resonance. Cain Marcus' work urges the viewer to slow down, to look at and breathe in the mute magic of night-time New York. The Silent Aftermath of Space is presented in spectacular large format, allowing viewers to submerge themselves in its mood. Exposed from direct light sources, these images are grainy and enigmatic nocturnal gems.
