Christopher Becker
2007 Biennial Talk
The images are created with a technique called light painting, in which light sources in near-dark conditions are projected onto or ”painted” in selective areas during the camera exposure. This technique was often used in commercial photography studios during the 1980s to put glamorous highlights on products. I decided to take this technique outside of the studio and into a less controlled environment.
This photography process is very much akin to painting or sculpture, using light and film as paint, clay, and canvas. By taking these analogies literally, I create otherworldly visions, examining the nature of light and matter, i.e. energy, playing with it and capturing it on film. It is also a physical process, in which I am often in front of the camera, on the “canvas” during the exposure, actually interacting with the characters or objects in the story/picture, though not actually appearing in the finished product. All work is created on a large-format camera, with special effects achieved during the exposure. No post-production computer manipulation occurs. Exposures can range from 20 seconds to the entire evening, taking five or more hours to achieve. Recently my work has been evolving in the woods of New England and within little-known niches of the urban world.
The actual process of searching for a subject or scene significantly motivates why I photograph. It is a journey, a search for a location, a story, perhaps of oneself. My search is constant; there may be inspiration, such as my favorite objects in different settings, or a serendipitous discovery of something I’ve always looked at but never noticed before. My curiosity fuels the journey. It is at the moment of discovering my subject that I begin another journey—creating the exposure itself. I am creating a scene or story with characters using the darkness of night as a canvas and my light source to choose the parts or characters that make up the final story. I too, being a physical part of the process without being seen, am part of the story.