Dean Chamberlain
Encyclopedia
Dean Chamberlain is a photographer who specializes in unique lighting effects and extended exposure times. Famous models for his pictures sit for up to five hours as he leaves the camera shutter
open and "paints" the space around them with carried and projected lights of various colors and shapes, creating luminous and colorful images. His technique was described by one of his exhibitions as "Painting With Light Through Time and Space."
Chamberlain served as Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College
in 1989. In 1994 his work appeared in Nervous Landscapes, a book which accompanied an exhibition at the Southeast Museum of Photography
. He co-founded the Light Space Gallery in Venice, California
in 2001, and serves as its co-director. Since 2003 Chamberlain has been a contributor to Mao Mag, an insiders' art and fashion magazine. A documentary of his work is planned for release on Ovation TV
in 2010.
He has taken art photographs of people from many walks of life. A "Psychedelic Pioneers" series of limited edition prints included portraits of Timothy Leary
, Ram Dass
, Albert Hofmann
, Laura Huxley
, Alexander Shulgin
, Rick Doblin
, Oscar Janiger
, Stan Grof, Terence McKenna
and John Lilly
.; another series documented artists like Keith Haring
and Jeff Koons
. He has also created portraits for musicians such as David Bowie
, Duran Duran
, Paul McCartney
, Madonna
, Arcadia
, Roy Orbison
, and directed music videos using the same long exposure techniques: "This One" for Paul and Linda McCartney
, "Missing" for Arcadia
and "All She Wants Is
" for Duran Duran
. “All She Wants Is” won an MTV Video Music Award for innovation.
Chamberlain was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He first became interested in photography when he was thirteen using a Polaroid camera, and by fifteen had acquired his first Konica
. He had always wanted to be an artist and was inspired by his grandmother who encouraged him to paint on canvas. He attended Sheridan College
and Rochester Institute of Technology
and by his early twenties he knew he was a light painter, and has focused on this technique ever since. He was very interested in the psychedelic
movement, and became a friend to Timothy Leary late in his life. In 2003 his gallery put on a showing of art and memorabilia that Chamberlain selected from Leary's archives after his death.
Shutter (photography)
In photography, a shutter is a device that allows light to pass for a determined period of time, for the purpose of exposing photographic film or a light-sensitive electronic sensor to light to capture a permanent image of a scene...
open and "paints" the space around them with carried and projected lights of various colors and shapes, creating luminous and colorful images. His technique was described by one of his exhibitions as "Painting With Light Through Time and Space."
Chamberlain served as Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in 1989. In 1994 his work appeared in Nervous Landscapes, a book which accompanied an exhibition at the Southeast Museum of Photography
Southeast Museum of Photography
The Southeast Museum of Photography is located in Daytona Beach, Florida, on the campus of Daytona State College. It opened in 1992, and moved to a new facility in 2007....
. He co-founded the Light Space Gallery in Venice, California
Venice, Los Angeles, California
Venice is a beachfront district on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, fortune-tellers, artists, and vendors...
in 2001, and serves as its co-director. Since 2003 Chamberlain has been a contributor to Mao Mag, an insiders' art and fashion magazine. A documentary of his work is planned for release on Ovation TV
Ovation TV
Ovation is an American television channel that airs programming dedicated to the arts and contemporary culture. It features programming devoted to performance, people, art, music and film. In addition, Ovation features in-depth profiles on various artists and performers, Arts news from the U.S and...
in 2010.
He has taken art photographs of people from many walks of life. A "Psychedelic Pioneers" series of limited edition prints included portraits of Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, Ram Dass
Ram Dass
Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...
, Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide . He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child...
, Laura Huxley
Laura Huxley
Laura Huxley was a musician, author, psychological counselor and lecturer.-Life and work:...
, Alexander Shulgin
Alexander Shulgin
Alexander "Sasha" Theodore Shulgin is an American pharmacologist, chemist, artist, and drug developer.Shulgin is credited with the popularization of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially for psychopharmaceutical use and the treatment of depression and...
, Rick Doblin
Rick Doblin
Rick Doblin is the president and founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies .He co-founded Earth Metabolic Design Laboratories in 1984 to support psychedelic research and Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in 1986 with the goal of making MDMA an...
, Oscar Janiger
Oscar Janiger
Oscar Janiger was a University of California Irvine Psychiatrist who was best known for his LSD research, which lasted from 1954 to 1962....
, Stan Grof, Terence McKenna
Terence McKenna
Terence Kemp McKenna was an Irish-American philosopher, psychonaut, researcher, teacher, lecturer and writer on many subjects, such as human consciousness, language, psychedelic drugs, the evolution of civilizations, the origin and end of the universe, alchemy, and extraterrestrial beings.-Early...
and John Lilly
John Lilly
John Lilly may refer to:* John C. Lilly , American physician, psychoanalyst and writer* John Lilly , former Chief Executive Officer of the Mozilla Corporation...
.; another series documented artists like Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
and Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
. He has also created portraits for musicians such as David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Arcadia
Arcadia (band)
Arcadia were the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule. However, Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and in none of the music videos, and stated he was only to be involved in the recording side...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, and directed music videos using the same long exposure techniques: "This One" for Paul and Linda McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, "Missing" for Arcadia
Arcadia (band)
Arcadia were the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule. However, Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and in none of the music videos, and stated he was only to be involved in the recording side...
and "All She Wants Is
All She Wants Is
"All She Wants Is" is the eighteenth single from Duran Duran, and the second single from the Big Thing album. It was released in December 1988, and reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.-Music video:...
" for Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
. “All She Wants Is” won an MTV Video Music Award for innovation.
Chamberlain was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He first became interested in photography when he was thirteen using a Polaroid camera, and by fifteen had acquired his first Konica
Konica
was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers.- History :...
. He had always wanted to be an artist and was inspired by his grandmother who encouraged him to paint on canvas. He attended Sheridan College
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...
and Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
and by his early twenties he knew he was a light painter, and has focused on this technique ever since. He was very interested in the psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
movement, and became a friend to Timothy Leary late in his life. In 2003 his gallery put on a showing of art and memorabilia that Chamberlain selected from Leary's archives after his death.
External links
- Official Site
- Dean Chamberlain: Light Paintings Meta Gallery in Toronto, Ontario