“Towards the Light – A Visual Method for Sustainable Cinematography in Natural Light” is an artistic research project exploring how light can act as a co-creative force in fiction with a documentary approach. The project is based on the idea that we do not add light – we shape it, respond to it, and adapt ourselves to the natural conditions of a given place.

Through work with 16mm film and digital tools, in small teams and authentic environments, the project investigates how the shifting qualities of natural light influence presence, expression, and the energy of the image. Inspired by the observer effect in quantum physics and a process-driven methodology, the focus lies on the unpredictable and site-specific rather than on total control. The research question asks how the role of the cinematographer changes when light is no longer treated as a tool, but as an active participant in the narrative space, creating new conditions for cinematic expression.

The results include the short film Byns lilla oäkting, additional films applying the same method, and a graduation film Syster min from MA25 partially based on the research. The project is presented through a video essay and a reflective text. By allowing the light to speak—rather than be tamed—an alternative path for visual storytelling emerges: one that is sustainable, artistically rich, and rooted in the rhythms of the real.