For my presentation I got to focus on the artist Janne Parviainen and his fantastic light paintings.
Artist Background
Janne was born in 1980 in Finland, earned his degree in photography and painting in 2003 from the Finnish Hyvinkää Art School, and has been teaching art and freelancing ever since. His works have been featured in several international art exhibitions, magazines, and well-known websites, including National Geographic, The Huffington Post, and Wired.
(This photo was in UNESCO’s Year of Light Exhibition in 2015) Catharsis means to release strong emotions through meditation, which is apt for this image.
Light Painting Methods
Like the photo above, most of Janne’s light art features surreal beings made of pure light, inside of abandoned buildings, drawn backgrounds, or among the dark woods surrounding Janne’s native Helsinki (Finland). When one looks at the images, it is hard to believe that they are produced with only a long exposure camera and some simple LEDs.
Yes, indeed, they are only photos- and not the Photoshopped kind!
The video below shows the process Janne uses to create some of his light painting- note how fast his drawing hand moves. (The best content is from 2:17-3:17 in the video)
Art Themes
Janne’s art usually has a spiritual or abstract theme, which compliments the otherworldly beings that Janne conjures with only light. (The figures themselves are usually either contoured light beings or skeletons). Some of his works also feature the telling of an object or scene’s past with light art, and are set among abandoned buildings in Helsinki and other places of urban decay. Janne also enjoys manipulating perspective in his photos by drawing landscapes surreal enough to match his figures with reflective marker in his studio.
Examples of Janne’s Light Paint Photography:
The Time is Now– This piece centers around the theme of procrastination and contemplation on whether a task is worth the effort
We are all Refugees– This work is also a political statement (Janne is socialist). Note the use of forced perspective with the reflective drawing Janne made on the floor of his studio.
I Can Still See You– This has a spiritual theme: The dead are watching us
Roads That Lead To Nowhere– This piece brings the rusting van’s wild past to light with light painting
In the years to come, Janne will continue to stretch the limits of photography and our imaginations with his work.