Before: the air cold and coastal, the wind fast, the scent clean and metallic. Just standing still is an instance of movement through space. The light is brisk but soothing: contrasts enhanced, colors less saturated yet improbably intense. City birds fly low and caw high. Living pauses, so that attention can be paid to the weather, or maybe to one’s very awareness of the weather. The experience is one of both deep stillness and overwhelming change.

And after: color is back, its substance brighter, more declarative. A setting sun whips the sky into a soft, dreamy sundae. The air is tinged with ozone, but the steely, gusty scent diminishes rapidly. One show may be over, but another one is in full swing.

All photos taken in Warsaw on June 21, 2018—the summer solstice—with the Fuji X-T20 and the XF 90mm f/2 prime lens. The ones at top were shot shortly after 7:00pm. The sunset image is from a scant two hours later.