When my son was three months old, he would start crying every evening. We held and soothed him and tried feeding him, but nothing made him stop.
I later learned that unexplained crying like this is known as colic, and that evening episodes are sometimes called the witching hour. The cause is not well understood.
While reading about it, I came across the idea that anxiety about nightfall might be involved. For early humans, being alone at night was dangerous. According to this idea, even in a safe modern home, a baby instinctively senses darkness as danger.
I do not know whether that explanation is accurate. Still, I know what it is like to feel anxious as night approaches.
From my twenties into my mid-thirties, the setting sun meant it was time to leave for a night shift I dreaded. Even a beautiful sunset was not something I could enjoy. That may be why I am still drawn to city streets at dusk.
Visual Notes is a series that will run alongside my regular posts—more photographs, fewer words.
Nothing worse than having your circadian rhythms in a knot.
It reminds me that we are most comfortable and relaxed when basking in light in the warm end of the spectrum, because, in our genetic make up, we associate this from hunter-gatherer times when at nightfall, when we couldn't do anything else (like do a night shift!) we would sit securely around a fire with our clan and maybe tell each other stories.
I quote Blaise Pascal: "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
I am not normally drawn to high contrast images. But, I must say, your images of the city at sunset are eye-catching for me. Through your images, I can feel the "vibe" of this city at this hour. I suspect our very high dynamic range camera sensors today help here with some detail and texture retained in the shadows. Well done! Thank you.