'A LONG TIME'

MOAL - 'A LONG TIME'

'A LONG TIME’ by MOAL is a unique 100-piece photography & music collection.

“This project is by far the most adventurous work of my lifetime and I am incredibly proud to put it out there into the world” ~MOAL

MOAL - 'A LONG TIME (official trailer)

Describe the photography element of the project?

All the images were captured in-camera, so no Photoshop etc was used in making these works. I used a technique called ‘light painting’, where the camera shutter stays open for longer, giving you time to sculpt the light in whatever way you like. Apart from some basic editing and occasional black & white converted shots, everything you see is exactly what came out of the camera. It was like having a dancing nebula in front of my lens.

Image 1/100

Image 51/100

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Describe the musical element of the project?

I would consider myself first & foremost a musician, so wanted to finally showcase that side of me within my photography work. I created a mammoth song totalling 42mins54secs, consisting of many movements, styles and a huge array of textures. All the music was written, recorded, performed, produced, mixed & mastered by myself; I say this not for any egotistical purposes, but so you understand the breadth of work that went into making this.

It showcases many of my stylistic and artist inspirations, ranging from Henryk Górecki’s ‘Symphony No.3’, Steve Reich’s polyphonic work in ‘Electric Counterpoint’, Tom Morello’s guitar work in Rage Against The Machine, Sigur Rós’ ethereal & explosive power, Jeff Buckley’s tender voice, Radiohead’s emotive compositional work and the unique, innovative and forever-beautiful songwriting of Björk.

Movement I: 5:14mins - 6:19mins

'Theremin' Guitar solo:

26:37mins - 27:19mins

Why did you animate the project?

After I finished, I still felt there was something missing. So I learnt Adobe Premiere Pro and proceeded to add subtle animation to all images. I wanted to keep the photograph the main visual element, but add just enough movement to keep the eyes alert. I like how it finished as a piece of almost ‘living art’.

Animated piece 1/100

Has the work been exhibited before?

I was lucky enough to showcase the complete project at ArtSect Gallery in London, Aug 2022. You can see a quick summary of the night below:

'A LONG TIME' exhibition, London Aug '22