Dean, Father of Light Photography Book

Raymond Pettibon by Dean Chamberlain

Photons in Aspic, The psychedelic camera of Dean Chamberlain
Light captured and preserved in the Jelly of Time

Please help Dean reach his goal to publish a book of his work to share with the world!

In the last few years, Dean has lost his gallery and home, and does not have the resources to publish his much-needed history of Light Painting. There are countless light painters around the world today who recognize Dean as a major influence on their artwork. 

Dean Chamberlain, a pioneer of light painting, has been making photographs since 1967. 

He was born in Boston and raised in Massachusetts and New York. 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 then Rochester Institute of Technology to pursue a fine art degree. Frustrated with traditional photographic techniques, one night in the studio he asked himself, “Can I make pictures with a flashlight in the dark?” From that time on, every photograph he made was a light painting. His sessions can extend up to four or five hours, and are shot in the complete dark, while he moves through the space, illuminating elements and painting with light. He has painted with light exclusively since then making portraits, and illuminating forests, figures, flowers, and architecture. These images are created entirely in the camera, with no computer manipulation. 

He has been an exhibiting artist since 1982 in galleries throughout the world including The Tony Shafrazi Gallery, Southeast Museum of Photography, Tweed Museum of the University of Minnesota, Musee Carnavalet in Paris, Hanshin Gallery in Osaka, and Ethnographic Museum in Budapest. He has been an artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College, and a guest lecturer at Art Institute of Chicago, School of Visual Arts in New York, University of California Los Angeles, Art Center of Pasadena, Southeast Museum of Photography, and University of Minnesota. He co-founded the Light Space Gallery in Venice, California in 2001, and served as its co-director. 

Dean has made light paintings of people from all walks of life. A "Psychedelic Pioneers" series of limited edition prints includes 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 documents artists Keith Haring, Ed Ruscha, Raymond Pettibon, Kenny Scharf, and Jeff Koons. He has also created portraits and album covers for musicians including David Bowie, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Arcadia, Roy Orbison, and has directed music videos using the same long exposure techniques for "This One" by Paul and Linda McCartney, "Missing" by Arcadia and "All She Wants Is" for Duran Duran, which won an MTV Video Music Award for innovation.

Chamberlain’s work has appeared in publications such as W magazine, Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, among many others. 

You can see some of his images here: http://jennalawsonfmp.blogspot.com/2011/05/dean-chamberlain.html  

Watch a video of Dean talking about his art here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0ookFFzvWs  
Timothy Leary by Dean Chamberlain