I paint with light in a pitch black environment. My traces are captured using 176 cameras. This circular rig is my stage, my creative playground, my home.

Created at the Xangle Studio in 2021/2022, with Kim Henry

Radiance 01 - 2021
This is our genesis piece on Superrare

This is the first piece of this series. Using a single holographic light-painting tube and a flashlight, I painted around Kim within a 8-seconds exposure. For this one, all cameras are triggered at the same time (showing the same trace of light from all angles). The only source of light is the one in my hand, meaning that Kim is lit up only by the tube, making everything blend perfectly.

Radiance 01 in its perfect loop - The final result

Behind-the-scenes of Radiance 01. I created the 4 helix within a 8-seconds exposure time.

Ten years in the making

Back in 2012, using only 24 cameras, we crafted this technique from scratch using very basic light-painting tools. Ten years later, and with over 2M$ investment this artform is a huge part of our lives. This is how we create our most complex pieces, turning light portraits into a three dimensional glowing experience.

Back in 2012, creating art in a tiny studio using 24 cameras.

We’re from Montréal, and we create these studio images mostly in Winter. But our lives are well balanced with outdoors work using the same tool and same technique. Traveling with a light-painting tube and a camera in amazing landscape is a big part of our creative process. Both environments are feeding each other with the various experiences and learning lessons.

176-cameras light-painting in Montréal, 2021

Light-painting in Mont-Tremblant, Québec, 2021

Outdoors light-painting at Le Bic, Québec

 

Radiance 02 - 2021 - WORK IN PROGRESS

Radiance 03 - 2022 - Final

This is our most recent one of this series. Using a single holographic sheet of paper (holosquare) and a flashlight, I painted around Kim within a 8-seconds exposure. On this one, the cameras are triggered one after the other with a 60ms delay, creating the movement in the trace itself. Kim is staying still for the whole duration. Two cameras are always triggered at the same time (seamless mode) to create that perfect loop (no beggining and no end)

 FAQ

  • How come you are not visible?
    I move fast and I try to avoid lighting myself. However, you can see my shadow within the trace of light in most of my 360 degree images

  • Why the hell do you have that many cameras?
    This is a big part of my art which I turned into a business. I started with very few cameras and bought more and more over the years as I started to get more commercial gigs. The more cameras I use, the slower I can get a playback

  • Why 176? Why not 180?
    176 is my physical limit in this studio. I can’t have a larger diameter array, and the cameras are nearly touching each other. This is the best density I can have at the moment. The current system is made of 22 clusters of 8 cameras. Each cluster contains the electronic components required to drive the cameras

  • How did you get started with this?
    I used to be a programmer and a photographer. With no special story. But one day, I got a call to code a software and run a small camera array. I got hooked and quickly learned to create visuals using tons of cameras. Light-painting came a bit later when I got stuck in a tiny tiny studio. I couldn’t use my regular strobes as I was lighting up the whole rig. So I decided to try to light up my subject by hand using a flashlight and a piece of paper. It took me a while, but by reducing my exposure time to one second, I started to get very sharp subject without the help of any external light (strobes, flash, speedlights…)

 I have an addiction to multi-camera art. I keep getting more cameras to freeze time and capture single moments in full 360°. I spend endless hours fine tuning the system and then when I feel ready for a specific project, I invite dancers to perform on this amazing stage. I started doing this over ten years ago in a tiny studio using 24 cameras. I now own more than 400 cameras which I use for two reasons: Making art and producing work for my clients. In that order.

Radiance is the sum of everything I do, this is who I am, and who I create with. It took exactly 8 seconds to capture, but 10 years to reach this level of details and precision with the light trails. This is about the art piece itself which is lit by hand in four streaks (the helixes), but also the technology we had to build to achieve this. We’re at a point where everything is automated. I can push the button to fire all 176 cameras, and at the end of the exposure, all files are sent to a main server and crushed in a final calibrated mp4 file for easy review. As with most of my work, I am not behind the camera (the cameras in that case), but with the dancer, crafting the light by hand for every image I create

 

What’s next?

We’re currently on the road to create more long exposure work in amazing landscape for our Night Reflection series, but we’ll be back in Montréal in November in the 176-cameras rig to explore new possibilities.