My light-painted night work captures the abandoned and discarded underbelly of the American West. I sneak through fences during the full moon to capture the inevitable march of nature, scrappers and developers, who conspire to erase the fading memories of all these things we once held so dear. I convert these dark, dirty, places no one wants into surreal, glittering wonderlands, colorful, ghostly echoes of what once was.
I started lighting because, right from the beginning, I saw these places as theatrical. As dark movie sets. The thing that makes a stage set compelling is lighting. So I use key lighting and shadow areas to control the composition and lead the viewer’s eye. It’s basic cinematic story-telling. As a life-long, career artist (graphics, painting, illustration, etc.) I understand and take advantage of color theory and the cultural meanings of colors. The feelings they evoke. Generally, I like to use colors that contrast/balance with the ambient tonal range of the scene or enhance the natural colors of the subject.
— Troy Paiva, Redwood City, California, USA
