Photographer Reuben Wu Uses Drones to Light Mountainous Landscapes

Throughout his career, Chicago-based photographer Reuben Wu has traveled the globe taking magical pictures of everything from solar farms to the open road. In his latest project, Lux Noctis, Reuben Wu uses drones to light mountainous landscapes in ways that make them seem alien and and untouched. The award-winning series was made with drones that, when shot with a long exposure, can create halo effects above the terrain that they’re circling. When speaking to Colossal, Wu said, “I see it as a kind of ‘zero trace’ version of land art where the environment remains untouched by the artist, and at the same time is presented in a sublime way which speaks to 19th century Romantic painting and science and fictional imagery.” The landscapes might not exist exactly as they appear in Wu’s gorgeous photos, but the fact that they’re real places that have been transformed by an artist without doing any harm is part of the reason they’re so majestic.