Night Vigil at Leipzig Polling Station

Harsh white security floodlights cut through the deep summer night outside a polling station entrance in Leipzig. A circle of people stands close together on the paved courtyard, their faces illuminated by the stark, unfiltered glow. Small candles held in hands create tiny points of warm orange fire against the cold blue-black shadows of the early summer evening. The concrete steps and metal door frames of the civic building reflect the intense artificial light, showing the serious expressions of the group. Tall shadows stretch across the ground, merging with the dark grass beyond the fence line. One flickering flame trembles on a wax-coated stick held by a figure in the front row.