gelatine silver print

signed, titled, dated (pencil) on verso

In 2004, Zahornicky spent three months in the Marais district of Paris. Inspired by Léo Malet's crime novel Marais Fever, Zahornicky began to explore the neighborhood at night, using the street map included with the book. “In his photographs of Paris, he follows in the footsteps of Brassaï, in Paris, the city of light, where the light never goes out, where he does not illuminate the corners of the city, but rather tracks the light.”¹ This is how art historian Peter Weiermair describes Zahornicky's photo series Primal Light, which owes its title to the album Urlicht/Primal Light by American musician Uri Cane.
What makes these photographs so extraordinary is not least the artist's brilliant use of selective backlighting. The bright glow of a vending machine, the glare of streetlights, or the brightly lit display cases at the entrance to a Paris Métro station are reminiscent of the night shots by American photographer Robert Adams, whose works are also bathed in light and seem to shine in a similar way. Added to this is Zahornicky's talent for recognizing signs and special constellations in the streets of the global metropolis of Paris and accentuating them photographically.
(Hartwig Knack)

Note

1
Peter Weiermair, Robert Zahornicky. Im Dunkel der Nacht Licht, NöART – Niederösterreich Gesellschaft für Kunst und Kultur (ed.), Vienna 2012, p. 4.