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    Light Graffiti: 10 Masters of Light Painting Photography
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Light Graffiti: 10 Masters of Light Painting Photography

By
Seamus Payne
Seamus Payne
Learn more about TheCoolist's Editorial Process
Published on April 22, 2010

Light Graffiti | The art of light painting is amongst the final visual frontiers of human creativity.  It requires precise photographic skill, carefully choreographed performance and a wild imagination.  Light graffiti as an art is not yet a century old, a discipline born from photographic mistakes and years of experimentation.  Just how good can light painting get?  Here is TheCoolist‘s collection of 10 excellent light graffiti artists from around the world, dating back to the days of Picasso and times more recent.  So set your shutter speed slow, grab a flashlight and prepare to experience the best light painting the world has to offer.

Pablo Picasso Light Painting

One of the 20th century’s greatest artists was quite adept with light painting himself.  The great Pablo Picasso experimented with light painting in his later days.  Picasso stood in front of the camera, armed with a flashlight, and traced his style of imagery in the air before the shutter slammed shut.  The result was an illuminating set of photos that show the artist at work– a wild set of self portraits where this famed painter shared the focal point with his art.  There’s more Pablo Picasso Light Painting right here on TheCoolist.

Pablo Picasso Light Painting Gallery

Julien Breton Light Calligraphy

The French calligrapher and graphic artist Julien Breton has extended his calligraphy into the world of photography and light.  Julien Breton’s Light Calligraphy is unerringly precise, a collection of Arabic-inspired characters that come alive in this set for Compagnie Cortex, a French dance crew.  As light graffiti is as much about photography as it is about performance, Breton’s collaboration with this dance crew is representational of the nature of this art form.  The dancers hold their pose, the lights are set and Breton outlines their forms with light calligraphy before the shutters close.

Julien Breton Light Calligraphy Gallery

Taylor Pemberton Light Graffiti

The multi-disciplinary graphic artist and designer Taylor Pemberton has tried his own hand at light graffiti, and the resulting images are stunning.  Much of Pemberton’s work with light painting is rooted in traditional graffiti, as the swirls and curves of his flashlight reflect the pieces shown on walls in cities throughout the world.  This next gen graffiti is set in abandoned places where concrete, steel and a sense of decay frame these brilliant shapes of light.

Taylor Pemberton Light Graffiti Gallery

Lapp Pro Light Graffiti

The photographers and performance artists Joerg Miedza and JanLeonardo Woellert are the creative minds behind LAPP Pro, a crew that has experimented with the full gamut of light painting.  LAPP Pro’s secret is both the setting and the tools with which they create these amazing images.  Sparks fly into the night air, spheres of light form in desolate places, and shapes converge around the artists themselves as they take part in these photographs.  Throughout the years of their light painting experiments, many visually stunning works of art have been created.  These are some of TheCoolist’s favorites.

Lapp Pro Light Graffiti Gallery

TCB Light Graffiti

TCB, the artist also known as Twin Cities Brightest, creates some of the most vivid and complex light graffiti we’ve seen.  The lines within TCB’s light graffiti are flawless, unbroken ribbons of light that weave into complicated shapes and patterns.  TCB is quite prolific with his light painting and light graffiti, an artist whose body of work most certainly deserves a close look.

TCB Light Graffiti Gallery

Lightmark Light Painting

Lightmark Light Painting by Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke focus more on minimal shapes within nature than outright light graffiti.  Their light designs appear to be a part of the environment, organic shapes that fit within the context of nature.  Light spheres within snowy fields, stalks of light above waterfalls and subtle forms on water are amongst some of their better designs.  Their light painting may not be inspired by graffiti, but the introduction of alien light into the natural world leaves their own mark in this imagery.

Lightmark Light Painting Gallery

Sola Light Bombing Light Graffiti

The light graffiti artist known as Sola has produced a wide, colorful and bright range of light graffiti that must be seen to be believed.  By that, we mean that his work may appear to be manipulated, but the images are untouched after the camera shutter closes.  Sola has weaved an impressive number of light graffiti images, ranging from swirls and shapes on urban backgrounds to intricate graffiti patterns with wild backgrounds.

Sola Light Graffiti

Light Cars by Se7en Magazine

Mark Brown and Marc Cameron of Se7en Magazine collaborated on a form of light graffiti that fused a passion for cars with light painting.  These Light Cars include Ferraris, Aston Martins, Audis and more, all in stunning detail.  These Light Cars are so faithful to the real thing, it’s hard to imagine just how many attempts it took to create these excellently executed shapes.  If you open up your imagination enough, you could almost imagine driving one of these light-formed super cars off into the night.

Light Cars Gallery

Toby Keller Light Graffiti

Toby Keller of Burn Blue Photography has himself experimented with light graffiti, in forms that share inspiration in the work of artists like Lightmark and Pemberton, shown above.  Keller’s canvas is nature– the quiet, sandy beaches of Santa Barbara and brick ruins elsewhere, onto which he paints bright, vivid forms of light.  The result is entirely natural, where the patterns of light appear to be a part of the environment around them.

Toby Keller Light Graffiti Gallery

Lichtfaktor Light Graffiti

Lichtfaktor’s Light Graffiti is a long-time favorite of TheCoolist, having been featured on these very pages in the past.  Lichtfaktor‘s work is unparalleled in the world of light graffiti, where urban environments meet a form of light-based architecture that merge into amazing imagery.  While we loved the Lichtfaktor London Light Graffiti before, the group’s full body of work is entirely impressive, even featured on magazine covers and advertisements in ultimate style.  Beyond the teaser gallery below, a long look at Lichtfaktor’s work is required to understand just how brilliant light graffiti can be.

Lichtfaktor Light Graffiti Gallery

– – – – – – – – –

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed this look into the world of light graffiti and some of light painting’s best artists.  There were quite a few others we would have loved to include, but 10 is TheCoolist’s magic number of exploring what’s cool in the world.  If you’re a light graffiti artist or know of one you would have liked us to include, be sure to share their work in the comments.  In the mean time, check out these other TheCoolist features we’re sure you’ll enjoy:

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