While We Slept is Pete Mauney’s culminating book of a decade spent flipping his sleep schedule to obsessively photograph the firefly population near his home in rural New York State.
Mauney’s masterful images depict accurate representations of time, space, and patterns among the lightning bugs illustrating the magic that occurs while we sleep.
The book is interspersed with reflections by prominent photographers David Hume Kennerly and Tim Davis as well as biophysicist Orit Peleg and Mauney himself, contextualizing Mauney’s work and process among the arts and science. Mauney’s in depth account of his process through Q & A, attempts to bring the reader into his experience of what it takes to capture the ethereal spirit of the firefly and share some of his first-hand observations of what he’s noticed over time.
What a lovely book! Many inspiring photos and a few wonderful essays featuring fireflies from different perspectives. I have followed Pete online for a long time and have taken inspiration from his pictures to take some of my own which are nowhere close to his.
I just finished reading and "seeing" this beautiful new book! Published by Goff Books, co-author/photographer Pete Mauney took all the incredible pictures.
What you see here are amazing photos of fireflies in the dark of night. One picture is captioned: Field of Fireflies, Comet NEOWISE, and an unforeseen visit from the International Space Station. But it's the abundance of fireflies that startle you. It's as if the comet and space station have interfered with the main event!
Using five different cameras set up in different locations the plethora of fireflies caught on camera is mindboggling. Who would have known? Pete Mauney understands and is comfortable with isolation outside in pitch-dark. Over a number of years, he can sense fireflies coming to him.
If you are looking for something different, but extraordinary - get this book.