Light Painting - from Man Ray to To-Day!

Way back in the 1930s, surrealist and avant-garde photographer Man Ray experimented with what he termed "Space Writing," where he set his camera for a long exposure, took a pen light and created abstract self portraits using the camera's capabilities of capturing moving light to a still image.

Over the years, many artists, inspired by Man Ray, have experimented with light painting. Here's an image created by Picasso and Life Magazine photographer, Gjon Mili, experimenting with the technique, circa 1949.





With the advent of digital cameras, the art of light painting has exploded, with websites like Flicker offering thousands of beautiful examples of this kinetic art form. Here's one I thought Judy would really like:



Here's one that I snapped myself on spring break. It was taken at a night-time fire dance display in Mexico. I wish I had my tripod with me - the results had the potential of being spectacular, but even as in impromptu shot, it's still pretty fun:






Ellen Carey, a contemporary experimental photographer who works in a variety of techniques to create abstract images with photography, recently made an interesting discovery on one of Man Ray's Space Writings photos . . . the signature of the artist, hidden in the pen light scribbles. For 70+ years, folks only looked on this work from the viewpoint of the viewer. On a hunch, Carey examined the image in a mirror (from the viewpoint of Man Ray in the photo) and discovered his signature hidden in the pen light design!

To read the full Smithsonian magazine article describing her discovery, follow this link:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Man-Rays-Signature-Work.html

Be sure to check out this interactive feature that easily reveals the signature:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/Space-Writings-Illuminated.html


Light painting would make another fantastic art exploration with the kids. Once again, bless the Exploratorium for creating a handy "how-to" pdf for us!!

http://www.exploratorium.edu/pie/downloads/Light_Painting.pdf