Light shapes the places in which we exist, and our very response to being in those spaces. Watching the early rays of sun dilute the darkness of night, it occurs to me how difficult it is to discuss light. My reaction is primal, and to summarise and share the feelings I have, as I witness daybreak, seems almost facetious.

And yet, this is what we have asked this issue’s contributors to do; to engage with the theme of light, with all its interpretations, and make sense of this most fundamental of energies.

When I am out at dawn, and I see the initial tear in the night sky, through which the dull blue of first light becomes visible, my senses sharpen, and for the next forty-five minutes I am fully alive.

Each of our contributors have similarly been stimulated by sources of light, whether that be natural or created by humans.

In discussing the theme of light, we cannot ignore the darkness; of shadows, of sheltered corners, of the night. We live in light and shade, and our urban spaces are constructed by architects and designers to capture the wonder of light and shade, and we are then guided through a range of emotions as we contemplate the streets, buildings and rooms in which we spend our time on earth. (Simon Buckley)

SIMON BUCKLEY is the creator and director of the Manchester-based Not Quite Light project. His work, which has been exhibited internationally, explores the places we exist in the half light of dawn and dusk, with a particular interest in heritage, regeneration and transition.

72 pages

b&w and colour

200mm x 200mm

Perfect bound

the modernist magazine

"the modernist offers unique perspectives on 20th-century architecture and design. With its pages full of bus stops, B-roads and concrete — you won’t find any swaying fields of wheat here. But don’t be fooled by all the municipal mundanity; warm and endearingly nerdy, this is an unconventional but nonetheless idyllic picture of Britain. In these strange times, there is solace to be found in the quiet fanaticism of this magazine." (Stack Magazines)