Tyre reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen

The objects were already there. Discarded. Forgotten. Reclaimed by the ocean, colonised by the organisms that live in it. Under low-level UV light — 330 nanometres — they reveal themselves. Red. Orange. Purple. Blue. Things the human eye cannot ordinarily see. This is what the Unseen collection shows.

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Limited Edition of 50 · Canson archival fine art paper

Unseen — Shot 02

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Pier pylons hung with fluorescing marine growth under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 03

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Three bottles reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 04

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Tyre reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, wide view, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 05

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Bottle reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 06

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Detail of tyre reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 07

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Jellyfish drifting through a reclaimed tyre under UV light, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — Shot 08

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Tyre reclaimed by fluorescing marine growth under UV light, landscape view, San Remo, Victoria — Matt Bagley

Unseen — OE 0022

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

Unseen — Shot 10

San Remo, Victoria · 2023

About Unseen

Learn more about the process behind the works.

Exhibited at Berninneit, Phillip Island (2024).

Each dive is one breath.

I set the frame in near-darkness. I wait. I don't know how the final image will reveal itself until I surface and look.

The Unseen collection took two years from first shot to the series it became. Shot at San Remo, southeast Victoria — intertidal zone, 30-minute tidal windows, available UV light only. No strobe. No staged environment. The camera is a Leica.

The ocean does not return what we give it. Not unchanged.

These objects were discarded and forgotten. The marine organisms that have colonised them did not choose to — they adapted to what was there. The photographs show what is there.

What the ocean holds that we have left behind.

Visible & non-visible light

Vacuum UV

1nm

Short-Wave UV

200nm

Middle-Wave UV

280nm

Long-Wave UV

315nm

Unseen

~330nm

Visible light

380nm+

Enquire

Prints from Unseen are available by enquiry — availability, sizes, and pricing on request.

matt@mlbdesign.com.au

What is the visible light spectrum?

The electromagnetic spectrum includes all wavelengths of light — most of which are invisible to the human eye. The range humans can detect runs from approximately 380 to 700 nanometres. This is visible light.The Unseen collection uses 330 nanometres. Shorter than visible. Ultraviolet.At that wavelength, certain materials and organisms absorb the light and re-emit it at longer, visible wavelengths — a process called UVIVF: ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence. The colours produced are real. They are physical properties of the material. The UV light does not create them. It reveals them.

What are you really seeing?

Objects and organisms that absorb UV light re-emit it as visible fluorescence. Red. Orange. Purple. Blue.The colours were already in the material. They are not a special effect. They are not enhanced in post-production. What appears in the photographs is a physical property of the subject — seen for the first time because the right light was used.This is why the collection is called Unseen. The images show what was always there.

Marine life and UV light

Many marine species see well beyond the visible light spectrum. Mantis shrimps have the most complex visual system of any known animal — they can detect ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths simultaneously. Sharks can perceive a wider colour range than humans. Deep-sea creatures have evolved eyes capable of detecting bioluminescence in near-complete darkness.The ocean already operates in spectrums we cannot see. These photographs work in one of them.

Handled with care

Each subject is found in the intertidal zone. It is photographed in its natural position where possible. Where a subject is temporarily moved for the shot, it is returned immediately to its original location.The shooting window is 30 minutes. Determined by the tide. This constraint is not a limitation — it is the condition that shapes the work.

My shooting process

Each dive is one breath.I set the frame in near-darkness. I wait. I don't know how the final image will reveal itself until I surface and look.The Unseen collection took two years from first shot to the series it became. Shot at San Remo, southeast Victoria — intertidal zone, 30-minute tidal windows, available UV light only. No strobe. No staged environment. The camera is a Leica.

A stark reminder

The ocean does not return what we give it. Not unchanged.These objects were discarded and forgotten. The marine organisms that have colonised them did not choose to — they adapted to what was there. The photographs show what is there.What the ocean holds that we have left behind.