The Silence After
Photographs of Sandy’s New Landscape
Documentary Photographer/Artist Mike McLaughlin was profoundly impacted by Superstorm Sandy. He’s a Jersey Shore Guy who grew up in the Bayshore.
Mike has spent the last few months, at night and in the wee hours, creating art out of the destruction of Sandy. Through a process called “light painting,” long exposures lit with ambient light, moonlight and a flashlight, McLaughlin created 41 images that fellow photographer Joe Sharp calls, “some of the most moving imagery I have ever seen.”
“I have always noticed that following tragedy, whether it be war, famine, natural disaster or terrorist attack, eventually the publicʼs taste for viewing the images of these tragedies fall off relatively quickly due to their tolerance for the graphic nature of the images, and in turn the collective consciousness of the event itself falls off,” said McLaughlin, “In part my goal with this body of work was to create art as well as to document. To try to create something beautiful amidst the sorrow. My goal was to document it, with respect given to the subject and respect to those affected by it, while maybe taking some of the hopelessness out it and instead instilling hope. To make something that people might want to look at a bit longer.”
Robert and Elizabeth McKay of McKay Imaging Photo Studio and Gallery are devoting their gallery to Mike’s documentation of the Jersey Shore, The Silence After, for two weeks starting Friday night March 1st with an Opening Reception from 7PM-10PM. Prints will be available for sale at prices that range from $50-$300. The show will continue Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1PM-7PM, or by appointment, until March 14. The gallery is located at 12 Monmouth Street in Red Bank.
All proceeds will be donated to the Waves for Water Hurricane Sandy Relief Initiative.