Reverse Plasma Formation 8
Reverse Plasma Formation is a radical reimagining of the Aurora Borealis -- the ethereal lights that stretch across northern skies. Shot originally in Iceland and later expanded in Alaska, Brian Merriam began with traditional photographs of the aurora, only to invert them, both technically and conceptually. What emerged from this transformation is a series of psychedelic, otherworldly landscapes that feel less like records of the natural world and more like transmissions from an alternate one.
Born from a curiosity about duality—positive and negative, light and shadow—these limited edition photographs hover between documentation and dream. Merriam’s altered auroras reveal unexpected forms: radiant veils, cosmic specters, vast skies bending toward abstraction. Shot in a season when the sun barely sets and time feels suspended, the series captures not just a phenomenon but a psychological state—a waking dream. In Reverse Plasma Formation, the sky is no longer a backdrop but a living canvas, rewritten through the lens of transformation and the poetics of perception.
In Merriam's words:
Over a couple of weeks in March of 2017 I shot a series of images of the Aurora Borealis in the skies over Iceland. Though a beautiful and other worldly experience, the aurora is a highly documented phenomenon globally. The photos I returned with left me wanting more. Months later in an attempt to move forward in this concept, I began to question what the opposite of an Aurora would be. The question that began as a random thought experiment became a scientific inquiry, and it worked. I began experimenting with negating the images i had taken of the aurora, and the psychedelic and surreal landscapes of this series began to come forward. Eventually in April of 2018, with the series beginning to take shape, I headed to Alaska to shoot additional photos of the phenomena. The result of this process is something I’m very proud of.
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Description
Reverse Plasma Formation is a radical reimagining of the Aurora Borealis -- the ethereal lights that stretch across northern skies. Shot originally in Iceland and later expanded in Alaska, Brian Merriam began with traditional photographs of the aurora, only to invert them, both technically and conceptually. What emerged from this transformation is a series of psychedelic, otherworldly landscapes that feel less like records of the natural world and more like transmissions from an alternate one.
Born from a curiosity about duality—positive and negative, light and shadow—these limited edition photographs hover between documentation and dream. Merriam’s altered auroras reveal unexpected forms: radiant veils, cosmic specters, vast skies bending toward abstraction. Shot in a season when the sun barely sets and time feels suspended, the series captures not just a phenomenon but a psychological state—a waking dream. In Reverse Plasma Formation, the sky is no longer a backdrop but a living canvas, rewritten through the lens of transformation and the poetics of perception.
In Merriam's words:
Over a couple of weeks in March of 2017 I shot a series of images of the Aurora Borealis in the skies over Iceland. Though a beautiful and other worldly experience, the aurora is a highly documented phenomenon globally. The photos I returned with left me wanting more. Months later in an attempt to move forward in this concept, I began to question what the opposite of an Aurora would be. The question that began as a random thought experiment became a scientific inquiry, and it worked. I began experimenting with negating the images i had taken of the aurora, and the psychedelic and surreal landscapes of this series began to come forward. Eventually in April of 2018, with the series beginning to take shape, I headed to Alaska to shoot additional photos of the phenomena. The result of this process is something I’m very proud of.
