I created these works by allowing fireflies’ light to expose photographic film.
On the night of June 29, 1988, I collected 25 fireflies in an unpolluted area of the Pavia countryside, about 30 km from Milan. I placed them in a special container with food—grass, water, and sugar—and brought them to the darkroom of my studio in Milan.

There, I let the fireflies walk freely (not fly: fireflies only fly in their natural environment and for mating purposes), in groups of two or three, or even alone, over 18×24 cm photographic films, ultimately exposing 48 sheets.

The following day, I released the fireflies back into their place of origin and developed the films. I then produced a series of prints on photographic paper sized 108×144 cm, faithfully reproducing the entire negative at six times its original size. Additionally, I made 12 illuminated Plexiglas parallelepipeds, each displaying a different film on its four 18×24 cm faces.

Paola Di Bello