Illumination

The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is one of the few places left in the world where time has been allowed to simply stay — its rooms holding original furnishings, wallpapers, and light fixtures exactly as they were, only slowly worn by the years. Moving through those halls, I came upon this large crystal candelabra sconce mounted against the wall, its arms spread wide and lit — not by candle but by the quiet electricity that now runs through the entire estate — casting warmth across the faded baroque floral wallpaper at its back, the floral shapes on the wall softened by age into something with dreamlike edges.

As I photographed it I was drawn in, the darkness of the room gathering at the edges of the frame, the light at the center holding its ground. The crystal catches and multiplies what it is given, the way it always has, regardless of time — the sconce burns on, illuminating a room that time has been quietly reclaiming, indifferent to the entropy around it.

There is something genuinely moving to me about moments like these — beauty maintaining its power not despite its context but within it, light doing what light does even in a room the world has largely forgotten.

This piece is part of Bright Ruin (2025), my series of over 45 unique works shot entirely on analog film over the course of 10 days in Rome, and first exhibited at Gallery ATARAH in September 2025.