( Version Française plus bas)
My Philosophy:
To me light painting is an expression of our true selves. It’s about the trace we leave behind. Through science, we now know that our bodies emit light. So in a way, we’ve been and are constantly light painting by living.
Light painting is an amazing form of art. It in hence your imagination, wake up your intuition and reflects who you are and where you are at within, like the mirror of the soul.
Where is this light painting art going?
When I started to light paint, I discovered a way to make magic happen by taking the picture of something that, in a way, doesn’t exist.
As a light painter, I work in the dark, not really seeing what I do. Intuition and imagination become my main senses. By practicing this art passionately, I’ve heard the inner self whispering hints and guidance towards new ideas and explorations. To me light painting is a place where the conscious meets the unconscious. It is a creative doorway to learning and discovering the higher-self. It is a journey. So, as an explorer, if you knew where the journey takes you, how long it would take and what difficulties you would face, would you still go?
My admiration for light is ongoing, nourishing my curiosity for life and its great wonders.
BIO:
I began light painting in Montreal in 1992. Five years later, I came to understand that I was a light painter and had to dedicate myself completely to this exploration while leaving other types of creative photography behind.
I’ve encountered several unexpected and unusual creative projects collaborating with Butoh dancers in Japan, fashion magazines, moviemakers, hair salons, musicians and skin care products companies. I did a campaign with the Minister of education to encourage the youth in exploring their passions intensely without drugs. I’ve created projects with car companies such as Toyota (Lexus), Honda, Infiniti Motors and Chervrolet. I’ve done portrait of actresses, TV personalities and other clients looking for art to enhance their living space.
Some of my content was part of Michael Buble’s live tour and other famous American signer in Vegas which I’m not allowed to tell who it is, God knows why.
I created live shows for Adobe in Vegas, for Zain Telecommunications in Kuwait, for the Car Festival in collaboration with Infiniti in Dubai and Created a live performance for TD Bank at a fundraiser for AIDS.
I’ve created the Light Painting Kata that I keep practicing on a regular basis and experimented with 360 degree bullet time technique using 24 cameras, light painting in 100% darkness with live models to make the video Liftoff.
The collaboration with RedBull and Snap! mixing art-technology and wake boarding was an excellent example of exploring new grounds by mixing different mediums together.
I drew lots of attention from major blogs such as WIRED, Peta Pixel, Laughing Squid, This is Colossal, DAZED, Iso1200, Trend Hunter, Photogy, NOTCOT, UFUNK, FStopper, POP PHOTO MAG, The Phoblograper, Huffington Post, Get Addicted To, My Modern Met, The Cool List and GIZMODO.
I’ve done the cover for 6629 and the New Scientist Magazine. I also collaborated with magazines such as Rolk & Folk, WIRED, TechMAG, Resource, Foto & Video, Studio Voice, IdN, PAGE, Professional Lighting Design, Salon Mag., Popular Photography, Vie des Arts.
Extra! The Little History of Patrick the Light Painter…
Since 1992, Patrick has been exploring and creating a unique genre of light painting.
It was while living in NYC (1995-96) collaborating with artists from the Village that Patrick’s art took form. One key partner was Aurora Crowley, who at the time was a hair stylist. Aurora was sparked by Patrick’s light and started light painting soon after. In 1997 while on a flight for Tokyo, Patrick came to the realization that the light painting was the key to his art and the photography it’s support. From that moment on Patrick has defined himself as a light painter and totally set aside any other type of traditional photography. For him this was the beginning of light painting as an art form and the birth of the light painter. Ten years spent in Tokyo allowed Patrick’s art to truly bloom as Japan opened up many new doors to the art of painting with light.
In 1998, becoming more and more free with the medium, Patrick used light painting to transform bodies: extending limbs, cutting off heads,… all on a single film exposure, without any post production. The collaboration with the butoh dance group Sal Vanilla was a perfect match, with them becoming high energy white “canvas” for light painting. The images remain stunning to this day.
The same year, Patrick won the first prize at the Nikkor contest and was the first foreigner to ever do so.
Later in 98, the Toyota project got the green light and a new challenge appeared: light painting the new Altezza car and create a collaborative art project with the corporation for the launch of the car. This had never been done before and the scale was much bigger than a human body. Some of these images took exposures exceeding 30 minutes and layers of intense light painting. The project took over a year to finish, gave birth to one of the first light painting videos and to Patrick’s first live performance.
Since moving back to his home town of Montreal in 2008, Patrick wrote the Light Painting Manifesto declaring light painting to be an art form. He also created light painting sculptures in photo and video demonstrating how light can be sculpted in space. An additional project was the 360 degree light painting, bullet time technology, using 24 cameras: light can now be experience as dimensional object.
For Patrick the idea behind light painting is to allow for the perfect moment to happen, where everything comes together, in synchronicity, creating this amazing moment of magic. His true ingenuity is to have created thousand of different types of light paintings, constantly re-inventing himself. Light is his teacher. He believes that our bodies emit light and that light painting is an expression of this phenomena.
One thing is certain, Patrick will come up with something new again and again to inspire and open new doors with the medium.
La Petite Histoire de…
Depuis 1992, Patrick a exploré et créé son propre style de Light Painting ( la Peinture de lumière ).
Son art prit forme quand il habitait à New York ( 1995-1996 ) collaborant avec des artistes du Village et plus particulièrement Aurora Crowley, coiffeur à l’époque. Illuminée par sa lumière, Aurora se mit d’ ailleurs peu après au Light Painting. En 1997, en vol vers Tokyo, Patrick réalisa que le Light Painting était la clé de son art et la photographie son support. Il se définit depuis comme Light Painter ( Peintre de Lumière ) et a totalement délaissé les techniques de photographie traditionnelle. Ce fut pour lui le début du light painting élevé au rang d’art et sa propre naissance du Light Painter. 10 ans au Japon ont vraiment permis a l’art de Patrick de s’épanouir, ce pays ayant ouvert la voie de nombreuses portes dans l’exploration de l’art de la peinture de lumière.
En 1998, se sentant de plus plus à l’aise avec son art, Patrick se mit a utiliser le Light Painting pour transformer les corps : étirant les membres, supprimant les têtes… le tout en une seule prise, sans aucune retouche digitale.
Sa collaboration avec la compagnie de danse butoh Sal Vanilla en reste à ce jour une parfaite illustration, les danseurs étants de véritable “Canvas”, supports blancs d’énergie pure.
La même année, Patrick remporta le premier prix du concours Nikkor, décerné pour la première fois à un étranger.
Plus tard en 1998 le projet Toyota lança un nouveau défit : Peindre de lumière le nouveau modèle de la voiture Altezza et en présenter son lancement artistique en collaboration avec la corporation Toyota . Cela n’avait jamais été réalisé et l’enjeu était bien plus grand que de transformer un corps humain. Certaines de ces images ont nécessité des temps d’exposition de plus de 30 minutes ainsi que de multiples et intenses couches de light painting. Il a fallu plus d’un an pour terminer ce projet, donnant naissance à une des toutes premières vidéos de light painting et à la première performance live de Patrick.
De retour depuis 2008 dans sa ville natale, Montréal, Patrick a écrit le Manifeste du Light Painting, déclarant la Peinture de lumière être une forme d’art. Il a aussi créé des sculptures de light painting, en photos et en vidéos démontrant comment la lumière peut être sculptée dans l’espace. Un projet supplémentaire était le light painting en 360°, en utilisant 24 appareils photos et la technologie Bullet Time : la lumière peut être maintenant perçue comme un objet dimensionnel.
Pour Patrick l’idée derrière la Peinture de lumière est de saisir l’instant parfait, quand tout s’assemble, synchrone, créant ce fabuleux moment magique. Sa véritable ingéniosité est d’avoir créé plusieurs centaines de différentes peintures de lumière, se ré inventant constamment.
La lumière est son enseignant. Il croit que notre corps émet de la lumière ( des photons ) et que le Light Painting est l’expression de ce phénomène.
Une chose est sûre, Patrick continuera d’innover, d’ouvrir de nouvelles portes, pour aller de plus en plus loin dans ce domaine.
