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Threshold Zone

posted 29th July 2009

Exhibition by Jesse Alexander
The subterranean has been a setting for mythologies and folklore throughout every culture, with a prince of the underworld keeping guard in almost every known religion. Although caves and the underground are mythologized as where beasts reside and where bad things can happen, they have also functioned as sites of initiation as well as provided shelter and sanctuary from storms and predators.

Threshold Zone explores this dichotic relationship by placing the viewer in the space between the entrances to underground spaces (the ‘light zone’), and where the space enters a state of perpetual darkness – the ‘dark zone’. The works create a tension between apprehension and curiosity, inspiring images of myths, fantasies and science fiction.

Jesse Alexander has photographed caves and man-made subterranean structures including mines, tunnels and reservoirs. Using a large-format camera with only available light to illuminate the spaces, he has relied upon exposure times as long as one week to capture enough light to expose the subject. The resulting images are uncanny photographic renditions that seem to depict a split-second, yet actually portray an extended period of time, which is made possible only by the static and isolated nature of these underground locations.

Threshold Zone is accompanied by TURNSTILE, a project that documents the enormous decommissioned nuclear bunker beneath Corsham, near Bath. This exhibition is the first time that the two bodies of work will be shown together.

Jesse Alexander is a photographer and writer on photography. He was born and works in Bristol. Threshold Zone and TURNSTILE were the resolution of a postgraduate Masters degree course in Documentary Photography at the University of Wales, Newport.