Jay Onenine is a photographic Artist who is interested in Urban Art, but not in the conventional way. He is a light painter. This is a relatively new form of night photography where coloured LED lights are used to illuminate the surface being photographed; creating a very appealing fluorescent effect.
When I first saw these photographs I was blown away by how well Jay Onenine has managed to compliment the smooth curves of wildstyle graffiti pieces with LED light. He does after all have to work in darkness. His colour selection and method highlights the fat curves and subtle tonal qualities of these city pieces.
This work; “OBVS” 2010, was photographed in a tunnel, the darkness contributing to the effect of the piece. Blue light highlights the text of the piece with red light bordering it. Jay has balanced the weight of the text so that the eye traverses the space. Colour is the key component in this work. Light produced via LED is pure and hard to reproduce by any other means. Jay has utilised the black surrounds of the pieces text to highlight its form. The strong contrasting colours of red and blue lift the piece from the wall and give it a luminosity dragging the letters from the space. The composition of this work creates interest. I love the way the light has highlighted the form.
“Casm”2010, is a photographic piece that emits a human element into the textual work. A human form stands silhouetted in the tunnel against the highlighted letter forms. The interior aspects have been highlighted with various colours to lift it from the surface. Strong contrast on top of the existing tags makes this piece float above the tunnel wall and excite the viewer.
“Gorilla” 2011; is a blue, green and yellow highlighted work taken in the dead of night. The photograph lifts the piece from the flat surface and highlights its form and colour. Due to the long exposure time it looks almost like daylight. The contrast achieved upon the sepia walls is very appealing.
“Gravel” 2011 and “Tense”2012 are brilliantly highlighted wildstyle pieces photographed at night using an LED light source to highlight the shape and colour.
Jay Onenine brings to life Urban Art in a new and dynamic fashion, injecting colour into an otherwise grey nightscape. The works I have highlighted here are only a small selection of his available work; there is a lot more that you can view on his Facebook and Flickr sites. I am looking forward to seeing what he will photograph next.
