Tube bent into the word OPEN
Photograph of a sign shop bench, 50mm. A glass tube bent into the word OPEN in warm amber, lit and clamped flat in a wooden jig over a full-size paper pattern of the same word drawn in pencil, so the tube and its drawing line up exactly. The sign is the only bright source and spills warm amber across the scarred bench and the pattern paper. Weak grey daylight from a dusty window behind. Palette of amber tube, brown bench timber and cold daylight. Real glass thickness at the bends, pencil pattern lines, scorch marks on the bench, 3:2.
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Sculpture spelling ALMOST
Square photograph of a gallery interior, 50mm. A neon artwork spelling the six letters A L M O S T in warm white tube mounted directly on a bright white gallery wall in normal daylight, the word clearly legible with every letter separately formed and correctly spelled, the tube reading as a physical object with visible mounting pins, clear glass and a black transformer cable running down to the skirting, while its light barely registers against the lit wall. Not an abstract squiggle and not an unreadable loop. Palette of white wall, clear glass tube and one black cable. Real electrode caps at the ends, faint warm glow only in the shadow behind the tube, 1:1.
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Sign returned by a puddle
Photograph, 35mm, camera low near the ground. A green neon sign reading LAUNDRY mounted above a shopfront, with the whole word returned in a still puddle on the pavement below where it reads reversed and slightly broken by the water surface. The real sign occupies the top of the frame and the reflection the bottom half. The shop is closed and dark behind. Palette of green tube on black wet pavement with one warm street lamp. Real puddle edge, a kerb line cutting through the reflection, 4:3.
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Bowling alley scoring desks
Photograph, 35mm. The concourse of an old bowling alley with a blue neon sign reading STRIKE mounted high above the lane ends, its light reaching the tops of the scoring desks and the ball returns below it and dying out completely at floor level. The lane lighting further back is warm fluorescent. Nobody in frame. Palette of cold blue tube above, warm lane light behind and dark carpet below. Real worn carpet pattern, scuffed ball return chrome, 5:4.
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Sign doubled in a bar mirror
Vertical photograph, 85mm. An old bevelled bar mirror with a reversed neon sign reading BEER visible in it, mounted on the wall behind the camera and never shown directly, its light also falling on the bottles ranged on the shelf in front of the mirror. The mirror silvering is foxed at the edges. Palette of warm amber tube reversed in aged silver, dark timber shelf. Real bevel refraction at the mirror edge, dust on the bottle shoulders, 2:3.
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Doorway spilling onto the kerb
Photograph, 35mm. A bar doorway at night with a small red neon sign reading LIVE mounted above the door, its light falling out through the open doorway onto the wet kerb and gutter below and reaching about two metres of pavement before it dies. Warm interior light further inside is a separate source. One figure just visible inside. Palette of red tube on black wet stone with warm interior amber beyond. Real gutter debris, cigarette ends, a wet kerbstone edge catching red, 4:5.
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Tube behind a shelf edge
Vertical photograph, 50mm. A dim room where a length of warm pink neon tube is concealed behind the front edge of a shelf, so the tube is never visible but the wall behind and the underside of the shelf above both glow, and the light falls off in a clean band. A few objects on the shelf are silhouetted against it. Palette of warm pink glow on plaster with black silhouettes. Real plaster texture in the raking glow, dust on the shelf edge, 2:3.
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Hotel sign down a brick wall
Vertical photograph, 35mm. A tall projecting sign mounted flat against a brick facade spelling HOTEL vertically, one letter per row in red neon tube, with a ring of white tube outlining the whole panel. It is the only lit thing on the building and it tints the brickwork immediately around it red while the rest of the wall stays dark. Blue evening sky at the top of the frame. Shot from the pavement looking up. Palette of red tube and white outline against dark brick and deep blue. Real tube supports and wiring visible, one letter dimmer than the rest, 9:16.
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Flame softening the glass
Vertical photograph, 85mm. A glassworker holding a length of clear tube in the flame of a ribbon burner, the glass gone soft and orange with heat at the point of the flame while the rest of the tube stays clear and unlit, one hand turning it steadily. The burner flame is the only bright source in the frame. Dark workshop behind. Palette of orange heat and blue flame base against near-black. Real flame shape, heat shimmer above the burner, asbestos-free heatproof glove, 2:3.
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Electrodes waiting in a rack
Photograph, 50mm. Six finished neon units racked upright and completely unlit in a workshop, their tubes clear and grey-green glass with black-painted blockouts on the return bends and electrode caps at each end, one of them spelling BAR. Flat workshop daylight from a high window is the only light and nothing is glowing at all. Palette of grey-green glass, black blockout paint and pale workshop wall. Real dust on the glass, chalk numbers on the rack, coiled cable, 4:5.
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Counter stools under a clock
Photograph, 50mm. A diner counter late at night lit largely by a ring of blue neon tube surrounding a wall clock above the pie case, the ring throwing cool light down onto the chrome stool tops and the counter edge. A single warm bulb over the till provides the only other source. The clock face reads a quarter past two. Nobody present. Palette of cold blue ring, warm till bulb and worn red vinyl. Real chrome pitting, crumbs on the counter, pie case glass reflection, 4:3.
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Sign with a letter gone out
Vertical photograph, 50mm. A shop sign reading PHARMACY in green tube where the second A has failed completely and sits dark, its glass still faintly visible catching light from the street below. The rest of the word burns evenly. Mounted on a plain rendered wall above a closed shutter. Night, with a sodium street lamp out of frame to the left. Palette of green tube, one dark letter and sodium orange spill. Real shutter corrugation, graffiti tag at the base, 9:16.
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Whole street front in a car window
Wide photograph, 85mm. A row of small neon shopfronts reflected along the side windows of a parked car, the curve of the glass stretching each sign into a horizontal band of colour so that only the word TACOS on the nearest one stays readable and the rest smear into colour. The real street is out of frame. Sodium street lighting fills the gaps. Palette of smeared red, green and amber bands on dark glass. Real water beads on the glass breaking the bands, a door handle interrupting the reflection, 16:9.
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Back bar under a COCKTAILS sign
Wide photograph of a bar interior, 35mm. A pink neon sign reading COCKTAILS mounted on the wall above the back bar, its light catching the shoulders of the ranked bottles below it and the polished bar top in front, falling off to nothing by the time it reaches the ceiling. Two small shaded lamps further along the bar give the only other light. Nobody behind the bar. Palette of rose pink on bottle glass, warm timber and deep shadow. Real bottle label detail, condensation ring on the bar, tube reflection in the mirror behind, 16:9.
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EAT above a counter window
Photograph, 50mm. A small roadside diner window at night with a red neon sign reading EAT hung inside the glass facing out, its light falling on the counter and two empty stools behind it while a faint mirror image of the same word sits in the outer surface of the pane. Fluorescent tubes over the counter inside are the second source. Wet pavement outside catching a little of the red. Palette of red tube, cold counter fluorescent and black wet street. Real window grime, a handwritten menu card taped to the glass, 4:5.
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Motel sign against a dusk sky
Vertical photograph, 50mm. A roadside motel sign on a steel pole carrying the two words NO VACANCY stacked on a single painted panel, both spelled out in warm amber neon tube and both lit, the smaller word above the larger one. The amber is the only light for some distance and it catches the top of the pole and the panel edge. Deep blue night sky behind with no other light for some distance. The sign lights the top of the pole and nothing else. Palette of amber tube against deep blue and black steel. Real rust streaks on the panel, moths circling the tube, 3:4.
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Cinema marquee before the show
Wide photograph, 35mm. A cinema marquee at dusk with the house name ROXY in red neon script across the top and a changeable letter board beneath it carrying a film title in black slotted plastic letters lit by ordinary bulbs behind. The neon lights the underside of the canopy and the pavement immediately below. Blue dusk sky above. Palette of red script, warm bulb white and blue dusk. Real letter board spacing slightly uneven, one bulb out, wet pavement, 16:9.
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Single word ALIVE in a dark room
Square photograph, 50mm. The single word ALIVE in warm white cursive neon mounted on a matt black wall in an otherwise completely unlit room, with the light falling away across the wall in a soft circle around the letters and reaching nothing else. The trailing cable runs down out of the bottom of the frame. Palette of warm white tube on matt black with a soft halo. Real matt paint texture picked up by the light, faint reflection of the tube in the cable sheath, 1:1.
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Bench repair with the tube open
Photograph, 50mm. A single neon letter S lying unlit on a repair bench with a clean fracture through the glass at the tightest bend, the two ends sitting slightly apart, and a small pump cart with gauges beside it. One angled bench lamp is the only light. Palette of clear glass, dull bench timber and warm lamp light. Real fracture edge with sharp conchoidal chipping, dust inside the tube, a repair docket under the letter, 3:2.
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Chase bulbs beside neon script
Photograph, 50mm. An amusement arcade frontage where the name PALACE is written in continuous blue neon script and the whole panel is bordered by a row of individual warm white chase bulbs, so the two read as clearly different technologies, one a line and the other a series of points. Dusk, with the sky still faintly blue. Palette of blue script, warm bulb points and dark panel. Real bulb filament visible, one bulb missing from the row, panel paint chipped, 5:4.
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