The lightpainting community is small and spread all over the world. A close association, which is perceived far too little in the world of photography. We want to change this. In order to bring you some artists closer, we asked some artists, which are active on HIVE, to introduce themselves and to answer a few questions about light painting and their relation to it. Today we would like to introduce you another talented Lightpainter.
- Maxime Pateau -
01. Please introduce yourself shortly. Name, Age and where you from etc.
I am Maxime Pateau, 33 years old, I am french and citoyen du monde (world citizen). My dad is a sculptor artist so I’ve grown up surrounded by sculptures, drawings, paintings, music...
As I introduce myself, i have to introduce Alexia too, she is my love and the one following me in most of my night adventures, she is 42 and discovered LP with me when we went on our first holidays together.
02. How and why did you start Light Painting?
*When I was around 20 years old, I learned the basics of photography in a cinema school. One evening, I was in a bus in Nantes going back home with my camera. I wondered how a long exposure picture would look if i shot from inside the bus window so I tried. I was amazed at what I just did ! I came up with very abstract pictures but was so happy to have discovered something new (to me), this was my first long exposure picture, around 2006. I then learned more about photography by myself and made lots of pictures with lots of different techniques to finally try night photography. I started by shooting stars, that means lots of nights out freezing in the cold, waiting for the exposure to end. At that time Instagram, Flickr, Facebook was new to me. I was discovering so many different photography styles and techniques. I saw tons of awesome pictures on Flickr, I even remember seeing LP rotations and thinking : "this has to be done using Photoshop, how could they do this in 1 single exposure ?”.
I kept on improving my photography skills to finally work on long exposure for a project about refugees and migrants for a French association called "La Cimade". I decided to make 18 portraits of refugees during the night. I was working with first and second curtain flash. I asked each model to walk at different speed in front of my camera and I flashed them, often at the end of the exposure to freeze them. After showing the pictures on social media, Julien Bellenger of the LFLP (Ligue Francophone de Light Painting) contacted and suggested me to join LFLP. This is where my LP story really starts because all I was doing before that was playing with lights without even knowing I was, kind of, lightpainting!
I then met most of the group in Lille in November 2017 for a LP event. After this meet up, I came back home with LOTS of stars in the eyes, I had met so many awesome french lightpainters that had so much practice and knowledge about LP : a dream when you start LP. After the event, I only had lightpainting in my mind, all I could think of was LP.
03. What means Light Painting for you? What is your motivation? What drives you?
For me, LP is so much more than photography. As long as you practice, you can do anything. LP demands so many different skills : motion, moving in space, observation, dedication, creativity, imagination and for me, the most important quality for a lightpainter is adaptation. And also knowing where your camera is in the dark, building your own tools, being able to sleep less. LP asks a LOT of sacrifices and work but is so much rewarding... I bet any lightpainter remembers his first LP picture because checking the back of your camera after creating it is... MAGiK!
I am convinced that lightpainting will find its way to the public when more and more LP artists will create more meaningful lightpainting pictures and series, like photography, creating is cool but creating with meaning is way more satisfying... But obviously way more difficult.
04. What gear do you always carry with you?
Of course, I always got my cameras, depending on the picture I want to make I bring my Nikon D3s or / and my OMD-10 mark 3. I always carry my led bar (15 cm) (homemade) and my first good torch : a Fenix TK25. I also often bring my sofirn SP 36 and the nitecore SRT9, mostly for the strobe mode. But I have to admit I have trouble going light on location unless I exactly know what I want to do. It’s always when you didn’t bring something that you need it!
05. What is your favorite environment to shoot in?
As I am writing (4th of May) it is the lockdown here in France so i have no choice and was quite unhappy having to stay home for more than a month but like I said, adaptation is very important so I adapted to the situation and I am now happy to have tried techniques that I could use home, in tinier spaces. When it isn’t lockdown I love shooting outdoor, going on location like near the Ocean. As I really like finding new places to shoot, I am always looking for new spots.
06. What is your Workflow?
My workflow is sometimes planned : I know which kind of picture I want to do and how, most of the time because I already know the location. I also like to go in a freestyle mode when i just want to have fun. I tend to work a lot on the different techniques to master it well, for exemple, I made lots of rotations to understand better how the tools works in different situations. Now that I understand the rotation tool better, I try different LP techniques (for exemple, I recently tried “the swap lens technique") but it isn’t easy to get out of your confort zone even if any LP is already getting out of your confort zone, for most people!
07. Who or what inspires you?
*I can get inspired by all the LP made by all different lightpainters, I can use an effect I saw in a picture and mix it with another one. I also follow a few Photoshop accounts for inspiration and I sometimes try to recreate some effects they do on Ps... Using LP techniques in 1 single exposure, of course! Some lightpainters seem to always have new inspiration and awesome LP pictures, for exemple, I can quote :
Mart Barras, Chris Thompson, Kim van Coels, Olivier Fay, MASS... To only quote a few but a lot more are a must to follow!
I also love Salvatore Matarazzo. He is a photographer who specialized in very close portraits made with a flash, I would say his style is "raw" and I love the expressions he gets with that kind of photography. This inspired me to make some close portraits with Alexia but those are more kinetic pictures than LP... For the moment!
08. What was your most memorable Lightpainting experience, event, or moment?
My most memorable event was my first one in Lille with LFLP (november 2017). During this event I discovered so much awesome artists (Ohdrey Poms, Stabeulight, Babatasi, Juls Boo, Atb Art, Chanette Manso, Jadikan and many more). I found out I wasn’t alone playing in the dark with light!
09. Do you have 3 Lightpainters you would like to have a colaboration with?
Only 3 ? I will only mention those who I didn’t get a chance to LP with... Yet !
Tim Gamble, Chris Thompson and Kim Von Coels. Their pictures always seem perfect, are always so pleasing to the eye and they often make us discover new techniques and new ways to use LP, they are very inspiring !
10. What are your best or most favourite 3 pictures?
Hard question... My 3 favorite pictures, as we all know, behind a LP, there often is a story so those are my own most favorite, sometimes because of the story behind the picture :
Titel: "TORNADO NiGHTMARE"
(Alexia had the idea and we managed to create it.)
Titel: "FUTURE iN YOUR HANDS"
(It’s been a long time since I wanted to give a try to the lens swap technique so we used lockdown to work on it.)
Titel: "Promenons-nous dans les bois..."
(This picture was made in Noirmoutier, it is a French island where we found different spots where we create lightpainting, sleep and eat just by the Ocean : the dream)
I wanna thank the LP community for all those stars they put in my eyes everyday, thanks for inspiring me, thanks for giving me so much, I wouldn’t know what to do if my spare time if I wasn’t playing "lightpainting" because I think this is very important to know, you have to play and have fun while lightpainting!
May the light be with you all!
Thanks for taking the time for the interview and the inspiration mate!
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