Light Painting: Breaking Away from a Perfect World by Stan Patz, January/February 2012

“As a commercial photographer, my usual assignment involves photographing new merchandise fresh out of the box. My job is to make things look perfect: everything sharp, well lit, blemish-free and with accurate color.

When it comes to personal projects, I often break away from this perfect world and shoot heavily textured, dirty old things. My building’s sprawling fire sprinkler pump and meter, featured in this article, fits this funky category very well. Like many subjects I have chosen to photograph, this plumbing installation was never designed for visual aesthetics. My challenge was to isolate the elements I wanted, and present this confusing mess with the dignity and style of a SoHo gallery sculpture… Lighting is the key to success in this photo. I wanted this old plumbing to have the look of a new car advertisement with bold lines on a dark ground. But there was no place to set lights, especially overhead lights, due to the low ceiling and all the obstructions. The solution I chose was “light painting,” my favorite method of simulating any type of lighting with simple, portable equipment. ”

Stan Patz was born in Brookline/Boston MA, moved from Boston to New York in 1963 to learn the photography business. In 1971, he bought a floor in an almost abandoned loft building, fixed it up a bit and raised a family. He lives in the back and has a studio, darkroom, computer room and workshop in the front.