All images from A Clean Well-Lighted Place © Andrew Bevington
"It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanliness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee." – Ernest Hemingway
The above passage, the principal source for Andrew Bevington´s inventive body of work, is the climax of Hemingway’s story A Clean Well-Lighted Place.
"The story presents with stark realism the existential crisis that is the search for meaning all human beings face within an indifferent universe. In the story, Hemingway’s protagonist rejects the view of death through old religious structures and implies that the rigid ceremonies of the church are only a distraction from the real task facing humanity– how to come to terms with the fact that there is no proof of god’s existence and live a life with courage and meaning based on one’s individual experience. The series is highly symbolic and incorporates many of the literary symbols found within Hemingway’s text to expand and extend the conceptual value of the images. I have not illustrated the story or even linked specific features of the characters to individual photographs; instead, the work explores well-lighted places that hold a heightened sense of the nothingness faced by Hemingway's characters. The text is a catalyst that has led me to explore the related themes of isolation, time and its passing, and mortality within a modern, urban context."
I have really enjoyed looking at such eerie and enigmatic work, more of which can be seen on his website here.
