Light Painting Photography Featured Artists:
This section of the website is dedicated to the light painting artist that are/were leading the way in a particular area of light painting photography. The artists listed here have pioneered a technique or style of light painting, have made some ground breaking contribution to the light painting community, and/or they are continuously progressing and promoting light painting photography. This list represents just a small part of the Light Painting community, there are many more that need to be added to this list. The list is in chronological order (based on the information I have) from when the artist discovered the Light Painting Photography.
Dean Chamberlain is the father of light painting photography and has been capturing photographs since 1967. It was his passion for photography that led him to the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1974 to pursue a fine art degree. During Dean’s time at Rochester in 1977 he discovered light painting photography. Dean was the first person to coin the term “Light Painting” for his open shutter long exposure photographic technique. View Dean’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light artist Eric Staller could be called the father of light drawing or light graffiti in its present day form. Staller was born in 1947 in New York. He studied architecture at the University of Michigan and graduated with a bachelors degree in 1971. Towards the end of his time at UOM Eric started to create sculpture and pieces of performance art. From 1976 to 1980 Staller roamed the dark streets of New York City creating light painting photographs. View Eric’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Susan Sims-Hillbrand began light painting in 1977. She was in a photo class at California State University, Northridge (where she graduated with a BFA in 2-D Art) when her instructor Jerry McMillian assigned the task of creating an unusual self portrait. Susan was throwing around some ideas when her husband suggested “you should try outlining your body with light” that statement sparked the idea of Susan’s first “Penlight” and what would become a lifelong passion. View Susan’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Photographer David Lebe was born in New York, New York in 1948. He attended the Philadelphia College of Art from 1966-1970 and subsequently taught there for 18 years. David is known for a variety of different photographic techniques including the use of pinhole cameras, hand coloring, and photograms, however it is his light drawing that began in 1976 that is of most interest. Lebe’s love of pinhole photography led him to the revelation that a photograph didn’t have to just capture a single instant but that it could capture a whole event. He says this of his epiphany “I also was able to walk around and get into the picture and that was, I thought, a lot of fun. View David’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting artist Vicki DaSilva has been creating her images since 1980. Vicki spent the year in NYC working as an intern for video and performance artist Joan Jonas. Through Joan’s vast artist network Vicki began a ten-year personal assistant job with sculptor Richard Serra. The influences of Joan and Richard, along with the birth of Hip Hop and the fusion of graffiti and fine art that was primarily directed by Keith Haring (whom Vicki knew from his home town of Kutztown, PA, where she attended Kutztown University) was extremely influential in her art. View her full Light Painting Photographyphy profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Troy Paiva has been capturing night imagery since 1989. He considers himself an “Urban Explorer” and says that his light painting photography is a byproduct of his passion for investigating the ruins of “Lost America”. Troy spends much of his time alone, in the middle of nowhere, photographing abandon building and places that America has lost to time. The sense of isolation and loneliness draws Troy to these locations, he says, “I love the surreal feeling of wandering through an abandoned subdivision, alone, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. View Troy’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Light painting artist Bruno Mesrine has been creating his light painting photographs since 1990. His first light painting image was “Portrait of the Moon”, an image in which Bruno used the light from the moon to create a face in the sky. His light painting work spans decades and covers a diverse group of subject matters. Bruno has created fantastic light painting photographs of everything from the human form to text light graffiti on the streets of Paris. He is a soloist and creates the majority of his own light writing instrument. View Burno’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Artist Chanette Manso captured some of her first light painting photographs in 1991 in the streets of Paris, France. In 1992 she moved to San Francisco where she produced light painting work for tech magazines such as Wired. During her time in San Francisco, Chanette also created light painting portraits for local newspapers including The Bay Guardian. She is best known for her light painting work that focuses on the human form. View Chanette’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Photographer Patrick Rochon began Light Painting in 1992. He declared himself a full time light painter in 1997 on a flight to Tokyo. Patrick is known for his visionary light painting portraits as well as his work in the automotive world and his live light painting performances. He takes the art of light painting photography beyond its limits and produces some beautiful work along the way. Patrick enjoys creating spontaneously but he also has been known to meditate to find his inspiration and then build on the momentum while he works to give birth to a bigger creation. View Patrick’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Panting Photographer Aurora Crowley has been capturing light since 1996. He was doing hair, makeup, and styling on a photo shoot in 1996 when his good friend, and fellow artist, Patrick Rochon introduced him to light painting photography. Aurora was immediately inspired, as soon as he got home that night he began to create his imagery. Aurora focuses his photography work on the world of high fashion, he shoots exquisite light paintings of some of the world’s most beautiful people. View Aurora’s all Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Artist LAPP-PRO was made up of two men, JanLeonardo Woellert and Joerg Miedza. Together they are the fathers of modern day Light Art Performance Photography or LAPP. Light Art Performance Photography differs slightly from standard light painting in that the camera is capturing an artist’s performance. The artist’s light movements are generally choreographed and rehearsed prior to the exposure being taken. In 1996, Joerg began shooting long exposure photography and JanLeonardo began experimenting with night photography in 2003. View their full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Artist & Light Art-Photography Master Jan Leonardo is the creator of Light Art Performance Photography also known as (LAPP) technique. Light Art Performance Photography differs from traditional Light Painting Photography in that the movements of the artist are choreographed. The LAPP technique uses long exposure photography to capture an artist’s performance within an illuminated scene. Jan Leonardo is the namesake and founder of the LAPP technique and the project LAPP-PRO. View Jan’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Photography Duo Lightmark is made up of gifted photographers Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke. Together these two create some of the most beautiful light painted naturescapes you will ever see. Their images include organic light forms that compliment the beautiful landscapes they travel great distances to discover. They have been light painting since 1998 and like with many other light painters their discovery of the art form happened by chance. View their full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting artist Arturo Aguiar has been capturing images since 1999. He was born in San Juan, Argentina in 1963 and studied physics at the University of Buenos Aires. Arturo’s shoots on film and his favorite light painting artist is Dean Chambelain. Touches of Dean’s influence can be seen throughout the beautiful images in Arturo’s body of work. He works alone and says this of his light painting work, “The use of light and color has an artistic, conceptual meaning. Without light and shadow, nothing can be determined. View Arturo’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Photographer Pete Eckert creates his images from sound, touch, and memory. His light painting images evoke a feeling of emotional connection that few photographers are able to capture. Pete sees his images in a slightly different way that most people, he only sees them in his mind’s eye. Many light painters imagine the final image in their mind before and during the creation process, we lay down the layers of light to create what we have in our minds and then we check the final composition. Pete Eckert is a little different than most light painters and that is because he is totally blind. View Pete’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Trevor Williams, also known as TDUB303, is a light painting pioneer. He creates some of his light painting imagery alone and also works with the group Fiz-iks, which he founded years ago. Trevor is from Canada, he has lived in Japan since 2002 which is where he creates the majority of his work. His light painting images are produced with special attention to location, Trevor says, ““If you want to take an epic picture you need to go to an epic location.” View Trevor’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Michael Bosanko has been capturing light since 2004. He discovered light painting on accident, Michael says this of his moment of discovery, “the moon formed part of the scene, but the camera shake caused the moon to make a streak. My curious mind clipped the camera from the tripod and, hand held, I attempted to “write” my partner’s name using nothing but the moonshine and the movement of the camera in my hand, and I had success. As soon as I returned home, I adopted the same principles but with torches, and I’ve been hooked ever since.” View Michael’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting artist Jason D. Page has been a photographer since 1994. He has been light painting since 2004. Jason first discovered light painting photography when he used light from the moon to create designs in the sky. His first light painting series are known as “Moonlight Drawings”. Jason is passionate about sharing the Light Painting art-from with the world. He is the founder of this website LightPaintingPhotography.com and the inventor of the Light Painting Brushes a system of Universal and easy to use Light Painting Tools. View Jason’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Nocturne has been capturing photographs for ten years and discovered light painting in 2006. He was introduced to light painting when he stumbled across some images of fellow night photographer Troy Paiva. Nocturne has witnessed some paranormal activity while he was out creating his images and in one of the scariest moments of his life he actually had a heart attack when he was light painting alone in the middle of nowhere! He light paints because it makes him feel free, Nocturne says he is most comfortable at night. View Nocturne’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting artist Brian Hart has been creating his light painting images for some time now. He has developed a style of light line work that can be instantly recognized as his own. Brian’s exposures can go for 20 minutes or more in which he intricately traces every detail of a scene. He is also know for creating technically complex images such as “Dark Water” and “The Garden” where Brian shoots upwards of 200 individual [unique] photographic exposures with the intent of placing them all together to create one grand image. View Brian’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Photographer Jeremy Jackson, also known as TACKYSHACK, has a style all his own. His light painting photographs are fun and bright. Jeremy is well known for creating his “Fire and Light Masks”. He has only been light painting since 2007 but in that time he has put in more work and created more images than light painters that have been shooting twice as long. View Jeremy’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painter Janne Parviainen, also known as JANNEPAINT, is a full time artist who has been snapping photographs for over fifteen years. Like many light painters his discovery of the medium was an accident. In early 2007, Janne was out at night capturing long exposure photographs and accidentally bumped his camera, when he looked at his photograph the street lights had left streaks that appeared to be writing in the image; from that point on Janne was a Light Painter. View Janne’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light Painting Photographer Guilhem Nicolas, also known as Jadikan-LP, has experimented with long exposure photography for many years; in 2008 he discovered light painting photography and has been hooked ever since. Jadikan is a Malaysian word that mean “to create or transform”. Guilhem wants his work to bring a transformation to his viewers. He wants to convey that we are all light and that we are all capable of creating light art. Guilhem is known for being a bit mysterious and secretive in his process and with the tools that he uses to create his light painting images. View Jadikan’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Dana Maltby, also known as TCB or Twin Cities Brightest, is one of today’s most well-known and highly respected light painting artist in the community today. TCB is widely thought of by his peers to be on the forefront of the light painting photography movement. Dana’s body of work is astounding; he creates new images on a daily basis and is one of the most creative individuals in the light painting world. view Dana’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
Light writing graffiti artist Lichtfaktor is a collective of multi-talented individuals based in Cologne, Germany, they are $ehvermögen (Marcel Panne), JIAR (David Lüpschen) and 10X (Tim Fehske). Lichtfaktor was formed when Marcel was commissioned to create a video projection project for Deutscher Ärzte Verlag that would visualize the theme “Energy in Motion”, he brought David and Tim onboard and Lichtfaktor was born. View Lichtfaktor’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Light painting artist Hannu Huhtamo has been light painting since 2008 but it was back in the 1990’s when he shot his first light painting image. Hannu was shooting a death metal band and wanted to draw out a pentagram with a lighter so he opened the shutter of his camera and created his first light painting image. After that Hannu moved away from shooting any other light painting images until LPP featured artist Janne Parviainen showed him some of his images, from that moment on Hannu was hooked on light painting. View Hannu’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Light painting artist TigTab has been capturing images since she can remember and has been light painting since 2009. TigTab is best known for her light stencil work and her images have racked up thousands of views. TigTab’s stencil work doesn’t stop with her light painting, she also creates spray paint stencil work inspired by another one of her fascinations, street art. View TigTab’s full Light Painting Photography artist profile HERE.
Light painting photographer Dennis Calvert began light painting in 2009. Dennis is best known for creating some stunning images using a circle tool he invented where he can create intricate patterns of light. His favorite light painting artists are the team of JanLeonardo Woellert and Joerg Miedza, known as LAPP-PRO; the influence of LAPP-PRO can be seen in Dennis’s work. View Dennis’s full Light Painting Photography profile HERE.
For the promotion and progression of Light Painting!