light painting

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Photography

Trails of Light Illuminate Sculptural Bonsai Trees in Vitor Schietti’s Long-Exposure Photographs

Cultivated for centuries in Japan, bonsai originated in China at least 4,000 years ago, treasured as symbols of balance and harmony and admired for their aesthetic beauty. Vitor Schietti’s ongoing project Impermanent Sculptures continues to tap into the strength of the trees in a photographic series of illuminated specimens.

Long-exposure shots capture bright streams from sparklers that contrast against deep, dark backgrounds and speak to the relationship between the immediacy of light, the ephemerality of the photograph, and the enduring nature of the lifeforms. “The small-scale representation of their grown, natural counterparts allow my strokes of sparkles to reach further through the trees’ shapes,” Schietti explains. Bonsai provide an opportunity to illuminate what he describes as the “soul, the source of life,” of these living forms, sharing that the process of creating and tending to one of the miniature botanical specimens reveals a unique human connection to nature.

You can find more of Schietti’s work on his website and Instagram.

 

 

 

Art Photography

Glowing Geometric Light Paintings Dance Above Sparse Landscapes in Reuben Wu’s Audiovisual Works

Paired with static, beeps, and soft melodic sequences, a series of glowing geometric shapes by Reuben Wu (previously) appear to emerge from the air in his new project, EX STASIS. Created in his signature otherworldly style, the Chicago-based photographer draws on both his Lux Noctis and Aeroglyph series, which use a combination of drones and light painting, to illuminate the rugged topographies with rings, tubes, and dots that spin and contort in hypnotic motion.

For EX STASIS, Wu programmed a stick of 200 LED lights to shift in color and shape above the calm landscapes. He captured the mesmerizing movements in-camera, and through a combination of stills, timelapse, and real-time footage, produced four audiovisual works that juxtapose the natural scenery with the artificially produced light and electronic sounds. “As it gets dark, my surroundings cease to be an exterior experience and become a subliminal space, and that’s when I feel most connected and aware of my sense of being,” Wu says. “This dynamic terrestrial chiaroscuro synchronizes with my sound design and music to form singular looping pieces.”

Find more of the photographer’s light-focused works on Instagram, Twitter, and Behance.

 

Art Photography

Illuminated Streaks Appear to Fall from Trees in Light Paintings by Photographer Vitor Schietti

In Vitor Schietti’s Impermanent Sculptures, thick treetops and branches are swollen with light that appears to drip down in incandescent rays. Each photograph frames the nighttime scenes in a dreamy, energetic manner as the glowing beams both outline and obscure the existing landscapes. Schietti shot the pieces shown here in February and March of 2021 around his hometown, Brasília, but the ongoing series first was developed in 2015.

Although some of the long-exposure photographs are taken in a single shot, many are composites created from various light paintings. He explains:

Apart from this process and color and contrast adjustments, the result is conceived entirely from real action with fireworks, a performance that shifts between spontaneity and control… To paint with light in a three-dimensional space is to bring one’s thoughts from unconscious realms into existence, only visible as presented through long-exposure photography.

Schietti sees the luminous series as a celebration of the Brazilian city, which he describes as a tree-filled oasis of birds and cicadas that’s “often integrated with the genius architecture of Oscar Niemeyer…Appreciating their hidden expressions, or imagining the life force that pulsates and emanates from them maybe a little less ordinary, so here (the) images play an important role: inspire and foster imagination.”

Check out the catalog of available prints on Schietti’s site, and head to Instagram for more of his photographs featuring Brazil’s lush landscapes and natural life.

 

Photography

Through Light Painting and Stenciling, Artist Fabrice Wittner Illuminates Life Near the North Pole

Inspired by Inuit iconography, Fabrice Wittner (previously) describes his latest series as “an invitation to enter the polar night.” The Northern Lights, a project in which the artist superimposes figures onto the Arctic phenomenon, involves painting with a light source like a torch on an extended-exposure photograph, illuminating those he depicts. Wittner combined this technique with his use of leatherette stencils, which are inspired by archived Inuit images from the early 20th century, to create his complex and layered portrayals. Committed to environmentally friendly processes, Wittner produced his low-pollution cyanotype prints using found and recycled materials, such as scraps of Dilite aluminum plates and pallet wood.

Originally from Alsace, France, the artist is interested in the ways climate change will affect native polar populations. As the sea ice melts and water levels rise, the hunting resources in the area inevitably will be affected, changing daily life for these groups of people.

The interdependency between the lifestyle evolution, global warming, the threat upon wildlife, and the consequences on the northern populations should lead us to reconsider our whole society. Inuits from Greenland and the North American continent, Sames from Northern Europe, and ethnic groups from Siberia will be on the front line of global warming. As the first climate refugees, only their memory and the spirits of their ancestors will remain on their lands.

Wittner regularly updates his Behance and Instagram, where you can find more of his ecologically conscious projects.

Animation Art Photography

Light Painting Animations Create Dazzling Effects Around Glass Spheres

During his last few months in school, recent University of Maryland graduate Josh Sheldon built a light animation robot scaled to the size of his small college bedroom. For the personal project, Sheldon taught himself Blender, Python, and Dragonframe in just under two weeks. The device allowed him to create dazzling effects around spheres and cubes, with each animation taking between four and twelve hours to shoot. You can view the process behind Sheldon’s robot in the view below, and take a look at the code he used for each of his light paintings over on Github. More of Josh’s work, including these light portraits, can be found on his Instagram. (via Prosthetic Knowledge)

Photography

Streaks of Light Illuminate Hungarian Forests During a Full Moon by David Lados

For his 2014 series New Moon, photographer David Lados captured varying streaks of light slicing through remote areas of Hungarian forests, many specifically staged throughout the Mátra mountain range. To capture the contrast needed for his light trails Lados strictly obeyed lunar cycles, only photographing the illuminated targets during the height of the new moon.

Using this technique Lados was able to create an uncompromised glow from the artificial light source, tracing pathways that extend a few feet to the entire length of a pond. You can purchase select prints from Lados’s series on his Saatchi Art shop, and view day-to-day dispatches from his life and other projects on Instagram. (via Cross Connect)