The Thousands

A lot of the time you just do not know where the night will take you (here please God here) so it seems fitting that a show called After Dark is concerned with uncertain futures as well as, you know, the sun being down. Digby Duncan and David Smyth have both taken the photographs in their complementary exhibitions under cover of darkness in places that may not exist much longer the way they are now.

Close to home, Smyth has clambered around in the Glebe tram sheds, and taken hand-lit photos of the ‘End of the Line’ trams that have become a canvas for a bunch of Sydney street artists. The tram sheds are part of the Harold Park redevelopment and the fate of their inanimate residents, captured in Miyazaki-referencing cartoon brightness, is yet to be determined.

Also undecided is what will happen to Feijiacun, a small traditional village near Beijing, where Duncan recently undertook a residency. Slated for demolition but not over ’til it’s knocked over, the streets and inhabitants of Feijiacun become a sort of Impressionistic dreamworld in Duncan’s photographs. The images are pre-emptively nostalgic, attempting to capture what could come closest to representing the place when it no longer exists.

If that all seems a bit melancholy, have some advice from a Chinese proverb: “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.”