I'm always looking for a new way to see and to illustrate. Some time ago I wondered what it might look like to "paint" someone with light. Rather than fully illuminate their body with one constant light source or with a flash, what if I tried to paint them slowly.
I have tried a few times with different light sources in different settings but it was only this past summer when I thought to work in my garage, where it's mostly dark enough and especially, to work with Alina who is always full of great ideas and energy, that this idea finally fell into place.
Even now though, I have so many variations on this idea I would like to explore. Though just now as the temperatures outside are dipping to below -20C every night and peaking to highs of -10C and colder, it seems not the best time to experiment. So, instead I thought I would like to share some of my efforts.
There are any number of light sources one might use, here I'm using a simple flashlight, but I have a number of sources I'd like to experiment with. I'd like to try this in a darker space where there are no light leaks in the background. In only a couple of these images can you see the light source itself streaking across the image on one side or the other. I think I like this and will not try to avoid it in future work.
Because the exposure time is so long, Alina moves a little while I am painting her. This can cause some very strange effects that can be a little disturbing or quite interesting. I'll leave it to you to decide which.
I hope you enjoy some of these images.
