The subtraction of light: turn off half the lights first

Two juxtaposed states of the same night street corner. The left side shows the original state: too many lights, with signs, floodlights, streetlights, and spill light from shops all shining simultaneously, resulting in chaotic brightness and mixed color temperatures. The eyes cannot find a focal point, and distant objects appear unclear. The right side shows the state after subtraction: more than half of the lights have been removed, retaining only ground lighting for the sidewalk, accent lighting at the entrance, and one display window. The brightness levels are clear, dark areas are preserved, the depth of the space and the distant night sky are visible again, and faces appear clearer under the warm light. The physical environment on both sides is identical; only the light differs.
Avoid: Making both sides look similar, depicting the right side too dark to see clearly, retaining colored signs on the right side, eliminating the sense of clutter on the left side.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

同一個夜間街角的兩種狀態並置。左側是原始狀態:燈具過多,招牌、投光燈、路燈、店內溢光全部同時發亮,亮度雜亂、色溫混雜,眼睛找不到落點,遠處的景物反而看不清楚。右側是減法之後:一半以上的燈被移除,只保留人行道的地面照明、入口的重點光與一處櫥窗,亮度層級清楚,暗部被保留下來,空間的深度與遠處的夜空重新可見,人臉在暖光下反而更清楚。兩側的實體環境完全相同,只有光不同。避免:讓兩側看起來差不多、把右側畫得太暗而看不清、在右側保留彩色招牌、消除左側的雜亂感。