A photograph is said to be worth a thousand words, and my favorite photographs tell a story. Light painting photography is a unique way to tell a story and express oneself. I describe light painting photography as a long exposure with either a moving light or a stationary light with the camera moving. The camera records the streaks of light like paint on a canvas. In this article, I’ll be going through the techniques I used and the stories I told about my cancer journey through light painting.
Light Painting: What we Imagine and What we Feel
Light painting photography can help us record what we imagine and what we feel. This is how I started my light painting cancer series. When I was going through chemo for Hodgkin lymphoma, I started having problems with my eyes. I woke up one day with intense pain in my eyes and blurred vision. I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face, and everything was a blur of colors; I had a hypersensitivity to light, which made light painful to look at. Later that day, my eyes gradually got better until the next morning, when it all happened again. I had no idea what was happening or if I was going blind. It was a scary time.
My eye doctor told me I wasn’t going blind. I would just have this problem when I wake up. One of the strange effects of the hypersensitivity to light was occasionally seeing streaks of light when I would turn my head. I wanted to be able to show others what it looked like for me. I took photos at night, using a one or two-second exposure, and moved the camera around to record car headlights and street lamps, turning them into streaks of light, just like I was seeing. These were my earliest attempts at light painting before I had ever heard that term before.
The Desire to Create, Even if You Don’t Think You Can
During treatment, I didn’t feel inspired or capable of making art. But as an artist, part of me felt like I should record my experience with cancer. Maybe in the future, I might regret not doing it. I had no idea how I would go about doing it. I started collecting my empty pill bottles, not knowing what I might do with them. It was years of collecting these pill bottles before I started to use them in my light painting photography. I would lay the pill bottles on the floor writing messages with them.
These messages were ones I would hear people use for inspiration. Others were based on personal experiences that I didn’t hear other people talking about. Because cancer patients were expected to stay positive all the time and not discuss the negatives that can come from cancer and treatment. It was difficult for me to relate to those who thought cancer was the best thing to happen to them since it made them appreciate life to the fullest. I wanted to express my experience and how I was struggling with it.
Community to Break the Isolation
I found cancer can be an isolating experience as it is difficult for most to relate to it. So, learning about The Creative Center, a place that offers free art classes for people with cancer, was a great outlet for me. I could use my light painting photography as a tool to start tough conversations that I was not comfortable having. Explaining my art made it easier. Being able to talk to people who could relate to my experiences was more therapeutic than I had thought. The conversations I had helped motivate this light painting cancer series, hearing what it meant to them to see a visual representation of what they were going through, too.
Light Painting: The Process
When I would set up one of these light paintings, the first thing I had to do was make room for the pill bottles on the floor. This way, I could spell out the words and make sure my camera was far back enough to get everything in frame. The camera was on a tripod. I had to extend the legs as far as they could go and climb a step stool to see through the viewfinder. The camera needed to be angled down to read the words. I would usually start around 2 in the morning. I needed the living room as dark as possible. The camera was set to an ISO of 100 at f/8, bulb. The exposure could be around 15 to 25 minutes, so I had to cover up any lights, like the clock on the VCR and microwave.
Bringing Light to the Darkness
Once the pill bottles were in place, I could turn the lights off, trigger the remote, and start light painting the bottles; I had to light each letter separately, making sure my body didn’t block the light from reaching the camera. It was important that I avoid hitting the pill bottles. However, if I had made that mistake, I knew the room was dark enough that the camera wouldn’t have seen it. That is, as long as I didn’t shine a light on it. I could fix it and move on, which became a metaphor for life for me. If you make a mistake, don’t shine a light on it, drawing everyone’s attention; fix it and move on. Once the pill bottles are light painted, I move into position using an electric glow stick to trace my body; because it’s so dark, the camera only sees the light from the glow stick and not my body as I’m moving.
Light Against Cancer
I call this series of light paintings Light Against Cancer. I like the metaphor of shining light in the dark as a beacon of hope. Cancer may feel like an isolating experience but there are people out there that can relate, finding those people and knowing you’re not alone can help. For me, my light paintings helped start important conversations that gave me the strength to get through a difficult time in order to live. To get to those seemingly unimaginable moments in life when you find yourself grateful to be alive.
