kaalam: light calligraphy
‘last train’ brooklyn, new york, USA photograph by david gallard image © julien breton
exploring the gestures and movements of calligraphy, nantes-based artist kaalam (aka julien breton) has created a body of work that uses hand-held light and long-exposure photographic techniques to capture the transient form within a real setting. often utilizing urban or historical sites as his three-dimensional canvas, the self-taught artist creates his own latin-based alphabet that heavily draws from traditional arabic and eastern calligraphy. arresting and provocative, the floating light forms are not mere superimposed subjects but display a direct engagement with the surroundings.
the capturing process, which can take as long as ten minutes, requires a choreographed movement which kaalam practices before hand in heavy repetition. different colours of ‘ink’ is achieved through pigmented gelatin which is applied directly onto the lamps. none of the photographs are retouched or edited, illustrating the laborious process in a single shot.
‘undercover’ brooklyn bridge, new york, USA photograph by david gallard
image © julien breton
‘freedom’ worksop, england photograph by david gallard
image © julien breton
‘lux – lumière’ photograph by david gallard
image © julien breton
‘aerial’ photograph by david gallard
image © julien breton
‘intimité’ dampsmesnil, france photograph by david gallard
image © julien breton
via ANIMAL
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the costumes are then photographed on subjects in poses reminiscent of portrait styles from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
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walk through a full-scale fabric replica of do ho suh's new york apartment
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rendered in a semi-transparent, lightweight fabric, the installation reflects on the artist's sense of impermanence.
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spanish photographer gallardo returns to the iconic muralla roja and captures an uncharacteristically dreamlike haziness to the arab-mediterranean architecture.
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in this terrible setting, every figure is decapitating or cannibalizing another, without there being any identifiable victors, victims or other moral categories.
in this terrible setting, every figure is decapitating or cannibalizing another, without there being any identifiable victors, victims or other moral categories.
waw waw waaaaw.
Its nice to push the limits
Great Job.
Keep it up .
-love and light-
Sara
Been done over 10 years now! There’s even coffee table books made of it
i’m sorry to say that, but it’s a fake.
the original caligraphe is marko93 a french grafiti artist from the 80’s
you ca see his work here.
http://markolight.wordpress.com/category/light-painting/
he have make lot of performance in arabian world.
in french we said “il faut rendre a cesar ce qui appartient a cesar.”
thank you to restore truth
I think it is a beautiful and skillful application of the tradition/technique of light painting, I would hang a print like that on my wall with great pleasure
very impressive!!!!!
wedz, is fake meaning that this has been done before, or do you think this is a real fake and a cut and paste?
you need some proof if so.
@ Wedz : My name is Julien Breton aka Kaalam and I’m the creator of this photographies. It’s not at all a fake. Marko 93 is a friend of mine (do you want his phone number?) and we done events together, but that’s not Marko 93 photographies. This photographies are mine (please have a look to my website http://www.kaalam.com). And for sure, not digitaly manipulated. It’s only freehand light-painting.
So please, before speaking, be sure of what you say.
And thanks to Designboom for this article…
onya kaalam, glad you replied. to me they are fantastic and i thank you for them
FAKE GAY AND PHOTOSHOPED !!!!
yes, fake meaning that this has been done before,
a sample if you want.
@kaalam… great ! marko is your Friends, well done, but whatever, it’s a copy. certainly a good copy.
@pete : ?????
@wedz : So only the first man who done graffiti on a wall do graffiti? The others who use the same medium with a different style are only good to copy? Ok… Interesting. Marko is one of the first man who done light graffiti, yes, sure, but Vicky Da Silva, Picasso, man ray too and before him. So Marko is a copier?
Sorry wedz, the second guy who signed ‘pete’ was not me. personally i luv it. some d##khead.
very poetic and contemporary re-iteration of hassan masoudy’s explorations. well done and respect
These are done well, fake or not, they look the part. They are technically well achieved. The problem is that this kind of photography is very boring, and very over done. Surely you could use your talents in a more original way, or in a way that actually says something. Crappy graffiti tags made of light or still just crappy graffiti tags.
Do you not think that what is beautiful about these ‘crappy graffiti tags’ is the fact they took around 10 minutes and a ‘choreographed dance’? Also that it is an entire new alphabet? or that it is placing graffiti tags within air, as a movement, rather than how it would usually be on a surface in paint?
Kalaam,
Beautiful work!
Unfortunately, by showing them to the public, you’re opening yourself up to criticizm… and people have a right to say whatever they want about your work. I say that any feedback, even negative, is better than no feedback. The fact that your work has elicited such strong opinions in both directions means you’re doing something right!