dance – Camera Obscura

The Zen Garden, by Peter van Stralen

Peter van Stralen — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:08:44 +0000

Text and photographs by Peter van Stralen.

They say that the design of an English garden is only complete, if there are no more plants, bushes or trees that can be added to this garden. By contrast, a Zen garden is only finished, if there are no more plants, bushes or trees that can be left out of the design.

In this context, my photography can best be described as a Zen garden: I am a minimalist.

So how did I become a minimalist?

When I entered the Academy of Arts in Arnhem, The Netherlands, I was, quite understandably, rather insecure about my talents and my possibilities as a graphic designer. So, by way of compensation, I added a lot of comments, explanations and titles to my projects in order to make sure that my ideas would not be misunderstood. This attitude was even encouraged by our teachers who told us that the crucial element in any kind of design was: The Concept. Consequently, in this creative think tank, along with our ambitious young designs, an awful lot of theoretical hot air was produced as well. And yet, in the end this atmosphere of creativity turned out to be very beneficial to me, because it taught me to look at things from various new angles.

Finally however, I had seen enough of this somewhat arty-farty environment, so I left the Academy and went on to study photography in-depth at a Business School of Photography. This new training was quite the opposite of the Academy of Arts, because it was really practical and down to earth. In a way, it was complementary to my previous education: whereas the Academy had taught me to think, to experiment and to search for new forms and ideas, this second study helped me to become more realistic in my approach towards photography.

For several years afterwards I locked myself up in my darkroom and my studio and experimented with all sorts of chemicals, films, photographic paper, lenses, lighting and compositions. My subject invariably was some sort of still life that I had created out of the stuff that was lying around: a vase, broken glasses, a chair, a mannequin, some pencils, a hat, you name it.

My main mistake in those days was that I tried to tell stories with my photographs by squeezing an overdose of stuff/information into the image, thus blurring the final message.
In this period of seclusion I created the foundation of my staged photography, which was still somewhat crude and naïve, but promising nonetheless.

During those years I also organized workshops for a group of young amateur photographers, and at one point it seemed like a good idea to have them experiment with the subject of photographing motion and movements. Because of my former contacts with the Academy, I managed to arrange a photo session for them at the local Dance Academy.

This is where my life as a photographer took a decisive turn.

I was immediately struck by the way these dancers combined their strength with elegance, as out of their incredible physical control a wonderful atmosphere of grace and beauty emerged. Opposites attract: I do not consider myself to be graceful or elegant, and I definitely cannot dance.

In the months that followed I returned to their dance studios time and time again to photograph them in action, until I finally had the nerve to ask a couple of female dancers if they would be willing to pose for me in the nude.

-Why?

-I think I want to be a photographer-sculptor.

We took it from there.

Naturally I was rather tense during these first photo sessions, so in order to control this situation, I tried to make as many mental notes as possible in advance. I made sketches, wrote down photo sequences, in fact I made an entire script in order to avoid any glitches during the session itself. The results were quite predictable; they were all right, but they were still a far cry from what I was really looking for. So I started to use props to enliven the images: chairs, stools, different backgrounds, and so on.

Meanwhile, the girls were just terrific: they were very enthusiastic, supportive and positive about the images, which obviously was a great encouragement to me. It was great fun working with them and they were proud of the pictures that we made together.

As time went by, I gradually noticed that I made less and less sketches, mental notes and scripts for my photo sessions. My confidence had grown and -just like the dancers- I had gained some inner strength from which I could start to create. Getting rid of of my previous scripts and sketches gave me the opportunity to open up and to improvise, to react spontaneously to the things that were happening right there and then in my studio. And finally, I decided to skip my meticulous preparations altogether and take each session almost like a blank canvas.

Furthermore, all titles, descriptions or captions for my photographs were left out: all my photographs have only a serial number. In my field of photography, the best images are the ones that do not need a title, a description or an explanation. Interpretation should be left to the viewer.

To me photography has become an organic process: one image almost automatically evokes the next one. I do not believe in change for change’s sake, so trends and fashions mean nothing to me (I do not feel the need to be ‘hot’. Or cool, for that matter). On the contrary: just like a tree I shed my leaves from time to time. Then I have a winter break and start making new leaves again without any necessity of having to change.

In order to avoid these trendy or fashionable connotations, I started to strip my photographs of all kinds of details until I ended up with nothing but a plain black or white background.

Digging deeper and deeper into the subject, it became clear to me that the more I left out of an image, the stronger it became. Even the faces, however beautiful, were left out, since they only meant a distraction from the image. In the end, the result was pure form.

In the meantime, most of my models have become professional dancers and other professional dancers have followed in their footsteps to come and pose for me as well. My admiration for these young women is enormous: they are passionate about their work, they are disciplined, dedicated, and they are always open to new ideas, which makes them perfectly suitable for my own projects. Without them, it would have been absolutely impossible to create these images, so I owe them a great deal. In fact, I consider the photographs as our common creation because of the priceless input they have given to me during countless photo sessions.

Nowadays I start my photo sessions with only a vague, embryonic notion of what I plan to do and then I simply let things happen as they come. It is almost like jazz music or a jam session: From a basic theme, you start to look, listen and improvise. Without any notes, sketches or scripts in my hand, I reach out to my model and then we surrender to the music that we create together.

At one point one of them asked me:

– Do you think that photography is an art form?

– Is drawing an art form? I replied.

– Most of the time, it’s not, but yes, sometimes drawings can be an art form.

– Precisely.

– So how do you see the work that we are doing here?

– We are dancing. In a Zen garden.

Please visit Peter van Stralen for more minimalistic nude photography.

Light Painting: the art of moving light, by Patrick Rochon

Patrick Rochon — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:22:17 +0000

Text and photographs by Patrick Rochon.

I started doing Light Painting photography in Montreal, Canada in 1992. I also used to do “traditional” photography but in 1997, flying to Tokyo from New York, I realized I would dedicated all my time to this art, I officially declared myself a Light Painter and never looked back at traditional photography. Now everything I do involves the movement of light. With Light Painting, I like collaborating with dancers and performers, shooting portraits, fashion, cars, high-end products and nudes.

When I first started doing Light Painting with my friends I soon realized something special was happening. I could see an other world into the picture, something that didn’t exist before or something that wasn’t there in the dark when I opened up the shutter. Like imagination just came in. Instead of taking a picture, I showed something new that the eye cannot see. Then the light bulb turned on in my head!

This is the first Light Painting that made follow my path. It was done with my friend Christine Lavoie. She was posing nude and you can see me moving in the background Light Painting her. Light wise, I had no idea what I was doing then and most of the time I still don’t.

The base of Light Painting is easy and fun. Here is how it works: At night or in the dark, you put a camera on a tripod or on a stable surface, then you open the shutter on the camera for an extended period of time, ex. 15 or 30 seconds, then with a light, you move around in front of the camera. When you are done, close the shutter on the camera and voila, you have Light Painting. The exposures can be as long as you want or as long as your camera allows. You can Light Paint on a subject or turn the light towards the lens to create strokes and draw what you feel like.

Now with digital cameras it gets easier because you can see the results right away. But most of the work on my website was done on film before digital so I always had to wait a few days to get the results from the lab. Light Painting is very difficult to control but it pushes you to feel and trust your instinct while you are doing it. Working with intuition is what makes it interesting. In average, I used to get one or two nice shots per roll of 36 frames. Now with digital cameras, seeing the results immediately, I get a better idea of what I’m doing and by readjusting my lights from one shot to an other while I’m shooting I can push it further and getter better results. Another advantage with digital, is to be able to do adjustments in Photoshop or in any photo editing software. I don’t add lights in photoshop, I mainly do dodge and burn ans retouch the skin when necessary. Even tough using film is more difficult, it does have charm and the grain you get from with it, is beautiful, specially if you do a large print.

Let’s look closer at some of my Light Painting here.

I was living in New York city and did an exhibition with a gallery in the East Village called K.O.A.P. Katsu, the owner, decided to do an exhibition in Japan with of some of his collaborators so he brought us to Tokyo at the T.Y.K.2 gallery. When I got there I just fell in love with the place. I ended up letting the return flight go back with out me and with two backpack and a 1000 dollars in my pocket, I ended up living in Japan for 10 years. Yes it changed my live completely (Thank you life!).

While I was there, I connected with members of Sal Vanilla a Butoh dance group. Butoh is a contemporary dance form born in the sixties. We started a series of collaborations, Light painting at first, then video, then live performances. The collaboration between Sal Vanilla and I, was pure symbiosis. We were like one creative living organism. With barely any words use on the shooting, meaning we barely spoke, we created a serie of images that never been seen before, something new. They moved in such a unique way and took shape with their bodies like they had one collective brain. It was like one creature made of different bodies. With that kind of subject, the light that came out of me with was beyond anything I did so far. Just the right touch, just the right colors, just the right timing, just the right exposure. It’s not always like that. Some photo shoot did create strange and sometimes disappointing results but with Sal Vanilla, so many images came out good. On a roll of 36 I got at lease 12 strong and unique images. More at: Butoh.

Eventually, from one shooting to an other, I realized that the result is alway a cumulation of everything that connects with the shooting. For example, from the beginning, your vision, inspiration or your intention, the people involved, the way you share and connect with the others on the shoot, the weather on that day, the sleep you had the night before, the time and effort you put into building the project… Everything influences the shoot. So if you do want to have a successful shooting, put all you have into it, work with people you have chemistry with and create a good vibe on the shoot by putting people at ease, choosing the right music and enjoying what you do. Get exited and bring up the quality in the preparation and in every details. It is a process so it is the way you travel to your destination that makes the trip rather than focusing on the destination itself.

Also While I was in Japan, I was introduced by photographer Mark Higashino to Itaru Sugita an art director and graphic designer. In 1998 I was passing by Itaru’s office in Tokyo to say hi, he was working on a presentation for Toyota Altezza, the new car back then. While I was looking at him working on it, I said; “Why don’t you Light Paint it?” as a joke of course, never in my mind did I think it was possible. So far all I had under my belt as a Light Painter, was portraits and a few full bodies. Also back then I only Light Painted on the subject and never did Light Painting in empty space by pointing the lights towards the camera around a subject. So after listening to my idea, of Light Painting the car, Itaru went into a deep and long silence and then said; “It’s a good idea!” I was like euuu,, mmm,, OK!? Well me being spontaneously naive again, did get me the biggest project I did so far. We started by to Light Painting a miniature toy car with aluminum foil in the background to present the concept to Toyota.

They liked it and proposed to do a test on a real car. Then I got really scared, they invested serious money on this and I didn’t know if I could do this, if it was even possible. After a while, we did a test a in studio with a different car then the Altezza, all with 4×5 format cameras, shooting with 4 or 5 different cameras, one being Polaroid film. I use to cross-process my films one came out good enough and Toyota approved our test and gave the OK to go to the next step. Then we did a second test with the real car (it was top secret then back then), and that is when I really learned how to Light Paint a car. The team was giving me key feedback on my Light Painting and on the reflections it did on the car. It was important to understand and respect the shape and design of it. I think we shot for 2 days in studio. We did slick and clean work. The Light was simple and strong. When it was presented to Toyota they said it was good lighting but now for the next one, they wanted my ART. They wanted me to push it to an other level. I said to myself they want it, they’re going to get it. I got all pumped up for the last shooting. I was ready to expose with light.

On the day of the shoot, I danced intensely, music blasting, and light painted on and around the car like there is no tomorrow. We did about 15 hours of Light Painting a day, 3 days in a row. Some camera exposure took up to 30 minutes long nonstop in one take. It was like magic. We got spectacular results. Later we ended up doing an exhibition at Spiral Hall in Tokyo, we had post card books, posters in the subways, magazine pages. Eventually we even did a promotion video shoot with Light Painting directed by Keiichiro Mukai. You can see an edited version here on YouTube. This Toyota experience was a peak in my career, coming out of the underground creative scene of New York city to the light of Tokyo. Something new came to be done. Honestly, the success of this project was planing. Itaru, the art director knew that it was the first time this was ever done and he had to plan wisely. A new road, a new process, enough time and space to make it happen the right way.

It took over a year for the whole project to happen. I had to wait 6 months for the original approval, the go ahead, the first yes and in between each shoot an other few month for each step.The process was perfect and that gave birth to a beautiful result. That leap completely change me as a Light Painter, it’s a good thing I’m naive sometimes.

Now I’m back in Montreal, I’m building my base and spreading Light Painting. I’m using this transition time to switch form analogue to using a digital camera. I’m happy to see the result right away and not have to wait for the films to get back from the lab a few days after. Less stress and more flexibility. Cross process worked for me back then but now with digital the result I get from the light is closer to what my eyes sees in reality while I’m shooting. And also it opens the door for retouching in photoshop. I can do my own lab at home and tweak it to my vision. It’s a flexible medium that has many creative and commercial advantages. Here you can see the new work I’ve been doing since I’m back: new.

Light painting history

Allow me to share with you the Light Painting history I gathered so far. Light Painting, I also call it the art of moving light and it is also know now as Light Gratify, originated quite some time ago. Artist Man Ray did some Light Painting in 1934, he might be the first one to do it. The painter Georges Mathieu recreated his own painting style using a lightbulb in the dark and capturing his hand movement by doing a long exposure with a camera.

The photographer Gjon Mili did a famous Light Painting collaboration with Picasso’s The Centaur in 1949. Artist Eric Staller did some work with Light Painting. Troy Paiva’s been shooting at night with the light of the full moon since 1989 and also Dean Chamberlain has a great body of work.

More recently I saw on the web that many new emerging artists are using Light Painting. The way I see it, this is a new art form. In 2009 I got 24 000 visits on my website from over 130 countries. Light painting is spreading. A dear friend of mine Aurora Crowley from New York is doing great fashion Light Painting photography. An other Light Painting friend, Julien Breton from France, does light Painting Calligraphy. You can see some interesting new Light Painting animation from Japan at: Pikapika. Also you can do a search on Flickr and find heaps of Light Painting there. And of course on my site I have over 100 light paintings shown for the first time at: Patrick Rochon.

Hope this inspires you to try Light Painting yourself.

Visit Patrick Rochon website for more exciting Light Painting photographs.