Picasso: The Vandal

Photo: Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images   Jan 01, 1949

Light Graffiti, the latest trend in street art, can sometimes take up to an hour to create, but the result is something of a different plane, art existing in no tangible state except for what the camera's lens gathers in these prolonged states of exposure.  It is no surprise then that Picasso may be the genius behind the idea.....

"In the new year of 1949, TIME photographer Gjon Mill  showed the artist some of his photographs of ice skaters with tiny lights affixed to their skates jumping in the dark—and Picasso's mind began to race. The series  of photographs that follow—Picasso’s light drawings—were made with a small flashlight in a dark room; the images vanished almost as soon as they were created."

Photo: Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images   Jan 01, 1949

Photo: Gjon Mili/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images   Jan 01, 1949______________________________________

Modern Work:

Poseidon by Eric Staller 

LAPP-PRO specialises in single-shot, long-exposure images manipulated with movement of light. They used a 21.1 megapixel Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera to capture these high-resolution images.

*Each of these spectacular pictures is one single photo that has not undergone any computer enhancement*

Though the best results you get through experimentation, Lichtfakor, a light crew based out of Cologne, Germany, explain the basics of every shot. 

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HOW TO DO IT    via Lichtfaktor

These are the basics:
To get the best results you need a tripod. The exposure should be around 10-30 sec. or longer if needed. Stay in front of the camera and do your writing. Try not to overexpose but set the camera to about iso100, and close your aperture as much as possible. If there is still too much light, you might have to use a nd-filter.

We use flashlights, biking-lights and flashing LED lights as they all work with batteries. You also get nice results with fireworks & torches .

3 different type of lights we use:

Xenon: makes a warm golden light.
LED: makes a thin precise line.
Cold Cathode: thick line/fat cap.