ADVERTISEMENT

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

theshadowdistrict Report

Add photo comments
POST
How Terribly Unfortunate
Community Member
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.

View more commentsArrow down menu
RELATED:
    #3

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Podunkus
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss are inside there somewhere.

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #6

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Jane S.
    Community Member
    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.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #9

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Terd Fergison
    Community Member
    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.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #11

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Tiny Dynamine
    Community Member
    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

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #13

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    KatHat
    Community Member
    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.

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #23

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Jane S.
    Community Member
    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.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    #30

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #32

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Rory Ell
    Community Member
    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

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #34

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Robert Bailey
    Community Member
    4 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.

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #36

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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.

    View More Replies...
    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #37

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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...

    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #42

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #43

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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!

    View more commentsArrow down menu
    #46

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    Sam T Godfrey
    Community Member
    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

    #47

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #48

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    ADVERTISEMENT
    See Also on Bored Panda
    #50

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #51

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #52

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST
    #54

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

    theshadowdistrict Report

    Add photo comments
    POST