The Dividing Line

Thomas Gallane
Between Light and Shadows: Monochrome Series
BLS027 BW: The Dividing Line
Archival pigment print on fine art paper
2016–2024

"The walls rise, but light always finds a way."

The Dividing Line captures the quiet weight of a structure shaped by time. The weathered face of an old building rises into a sky swallowed by darkness. Rough stone walls, scarred and imperfect, close in around a narrow passage where faint light seeps through, clinging to the edges and tracing the cracks of age.

Inspired by forgotten spaces in old towns, this work reflects on boundaries between light and darkness, permanence and decay. The narrow passage invites quiet reflection, standing as a threshold between stillness and change.

Captured in an old European town, the image explores contrasts of shadow and light, permanence and impermanence. The deep blacks, textured shadows and unpredictable streaks reflect the influence of the wet collodion process, where time and chemical reactions leave their marks. The medium’s tactile quality mirrors the fragility of memory and the strength of timeworn structures.

The Dividing Line reflects on stillness and the passage of time. The faint sliver of light is neither hopeful nor foreboding; it simply exists, suspended between the solid and the void.